THE MAYANS

A Mesoamerican civilization

Location:

• Central America: – Mexico– Guatemala– Belize– Honduras– El Salvador– Nicaragua– Costa Rica

http://australia.to/2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2650:mysterious-mayan-ceremonial-head-found-at-takaalik-abaaj-&catid=52:world&Itemid=166

Mayan periods:

• Preclassic: 2600 BC – 250 AD– Importance of Southern lands, first sites

(Izapa, Chocola) based on trade: obsidian, jade, cacao, … (Little interest in metals.)

– First hieroglyphs (c. 250 BC)

• Classic: (250 – 900 AD) – Large-scale constructions and urbanism (cities):

Copan, Tikal, Palenque, (begin) Uxmal, …– Carved stones (sum rulers lives).– Long distance trade with other cultures (influences)

Teotihuacan, Zapotecs, Tainos,… (Panaman gold at Chichen Itza.)

– Traded goods : cacao, salt, sea shells, jade obsidian, ...

Mayan Collapse

• Started around 8 - 9th centuries from the South.

• Not certain why.– Non-ecological theories: peasants revolt,

collapse of trade routes, overpopulation, foreign invasion.

– Ecological theories: disaster, epidemic, climate change, (evidence) carrying capacity excess, exhaustion agricultural land, overhunting megafauna.