The Maya

First a bit of history. I will try and be concise, and in return you will stay awake. :) The Maya or Mayans, still exists and have villages all through the Yucatan Peninsula, especially Guatemala. But the roots of the Maya goes back to roughly 2000 BC, (yes I used BC, if you have to be politically correct, substitute CE). The oldest current carbon dating in a Mayan site is 2600BC. Most importantly for any discussions about the Doomsday is the fact that the Mayan calendar dates back to 3114 BC. We will be discussing that calendar at length in future blogs. but the high point of the Mayan civilization, the classic period if you will, runs from 200BC to 900AD. The Maya homeland, called Mesoamerica, spans five countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. There are now indications that the people we call the Maya had migrated from North America to the highlands of Guatemala perhaps as long ago as 2600 B.C., living an agricultural, village-based life. The culture of these Preclassic Maya owes much to the earlier civilization of the Olmec, which flourished ca. 1200 B.C. ( If you ever get a chance, when in Guatemala, visit Takalik Abaj, where the Olmec and Mayan culture overlapped).


After that, for reasons that are still unclear, many of the key cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned. Southern highland cities and Northern cities still thrived, and the Mayan ruled well into the 1400's AD in parts of what is now Mexico.

But, as I mentioned, the Mayan still exists, and have held on to many important historical and cultural ways over the centuries. (Not long ago, I listen to a lecture on the Maya. The presenter started off by saying they were and ancient and dead civilization. Having spent time in Guatemala with many Mayan, I can assure you they are alive and well).

Below is a map that will give you an idea of the sphere of influence the Mayan Civilization had, including principal cities.




Next up will be some information about the structure of the classical Mayan world.


J.T. Turner- Mayanist