Guatemala

Aside from the great temples and pyramids the Mayas also had city states spread throughout. Unlike the Aztecs in Mexico, the Maya were never a unified empire ruled by a single ruler from a single place. The Maya’s were a series of smaller city states who ruled their immediate vicinity. Each city was different in its own unique way. Although they had their differences they tended to share certain characteristics as well, such as their general layout. The Maya’s laid out their cities similarly to the Aztecs and built around a central plaza. In the center of the cities were the important public buildings such as temples, palaces and a ball court. Residential areas radiated out from the city center, growing sparser the further they got from the center. Raised stone walkways linked the residential areas with each other and the center as well. Something important to note is that these plazas were rarely neat and orderly, and this is because the Maya’s

The Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan which is located northeast of present day Mexico City is known for being one of largest and most advanced urban centres in the ancient world. For centuries, tourists have been captivated by the ancient site of Teotihuacan that acts as the home to impressive pyramids, an influential culture and many secrets that even archaeologists today have been unable to discover.

The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization inhabited an area that encompasses Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. "From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphics, and a complex social and political order" ("Collapse..." 1). Urban centers were important to the Maya during the Classic period; they offered the Mayans a central place to practice religion.

I studied many things about Guatemala such as, the culture, religion, food, population, geography, imports, exports, and most popular of all sports. The sports of Guatemala is something I found very interesting.

Tikal National Park is in Northern Guatemala and houses the largest excavated site on the North American Continent. It is a well-preserved complex of Mayan Step Pyramids and Hieroglyphic Carvings. Tikal Park also is home to a large swath of rain forest habitats. Secondly, Lake Atitlan the deepest lake of the country is in the Guatemalan highlands. It is surrounded by 3 volcanoes and small Mayan villages. Another Guatemalan landmark is an active volcano known as Mt. Pacaya. Mt. Pacaya is an active volcano in Southern Guatemala located near the Capital, Guatemala City. Mt. Pacaya has been known to engulf homes and villages. The next landmark is the historic town of Antiqua. Antigua is a world heritage site that consists of well-preserved Spanish Colonial architecture. Founded in the 16th century, the town was the colonial capital until 1773, when an earthquake devastated the areas. The last landmark is also a Mayan archeological site. Quirigua was the place where the infamous Mayan calendar was discovered, along with dozens of stone monuments know as Stelae. Stelae are intricately carved with hieroglyphics explaining historical

Architecture, the basis of life for the Mayans. Architecture, specifically regarding pyramids. Now, when we think of the word “pyramid” most people will automatically think of the Great Pyramids of Egypt (we’ll get to those). But the Mayans had just as pyramids just as great. See, the technical building of the Maya pyramid was the same as the Egyptians. Both civilizations had pyramids of their own architectural design; Egypt with the well-known triangle and the Mayans with staircases. The use of slaves would help rise the pyramids from the ground, stacking, piling, pulling, and layering stone and clay. The main difference

This pyramid was built by the Zapotec civilization in southern Mexico around 700BCE. The Zapotec people continue to strive in this

Guatemala, a country situated in Central America that shares borders with Mexico, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, is rich in culture and tradition that dates back thousands of years and is the most populous amongst its Central American counterparts. A country called the “Land of Eternal Spring” and “Land of Forests,” Guatemala is located along the banks of the mountainous Central American geographic and the vast, beautiful Pacific and Caribbean bodies of water. As a result, Guatemala exhibits an abundance of one of the world’s most diverse and vast geographies. Prior to the arrival of European influence in the Americas, much of Guatemala was dominated by the Mayan civilization, which flourished in its

The Classical Maya was lost to the archaeological records until the last 200 years due to it’s abandonment. When the Mayans left there great cities, thick vines and jungles overtook the great monuments they once built. But in the last 200 years, in depth research has lead to breakthroughs into what the Classic Maya was like. The earliest Mayans were agriculturalist, growing crops such as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava. The Mayans also invented a very accurate calendar, a math code using 0’s, constructed buildings still intact today, and a writing system that took decades to decode. The Mayans were situated in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), modern-day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. Due to their location on the

Even though Teotihuacan has made such a lasting impact on all those who marvel at its grandeur and scale over the past two thousand years, this site in still far from understood. There are many mysteries surrounding this area even after decades of excavations and research. Archaeologists and anthropologists alike struggle to gain a clearer picture of this great Mesoamerican city, although continuing work at the site has provided a wealth of information about the region, occupants, and lifestyles of those who were touched by it.

Massive temples hidden in the jungles of the Yucatan, mysterious stone stelas, and cryptic calendars eluding to advanced knowledge of the stars and mathematics are just some of the artifacts originating from the “Classic Maya” period (200 CE-900 CE). However, these popular items should not be the only defining characteristics of a society that dominated the Mesoamerican region for nearly a millennia. Dynastic lines, similar to those found in European houses, were important elements during this period in places like Palenque, Tikal, and Calakmul. Additionally, the Maya experienced violent and consistent warfare between localized powers and the backbone of their society, agriculture, suffered through several multi-year droughts. These factors

All remnants of the distant past are romantic, but ancient Maya civilization has a special fascination. It is a "lost" civilization, whose secrets lie deep in the mysterious tropical forest. The style of Maya architecture and sculpture seems alien and bizarre.

Mesoamerica is the area in which the ancient Maya had lived, and is the area where modern Mayans are still reside. According to Coe, the Mayan geographic can range from Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Yucatan Peninsula, and the Mexican States of Chiapas and Tabasco (1966:17). Yet these areas are not limited to just Mayan. Many structural architecture remains today has proven the complexity of the Mayan culture in Mesoamerica.

Mayan culture existed a thousand years ago, in what is now part of Central America. Its ruins were almost entirely abandoned by 600 A.D, and were not rediscovered until the early 1500’s, by Spanish settlers. Mayan architecture astounded the early conquistadors, and continues to be of great interest to modern archeologists as well. These scientists have labeled a certain period of Mayan architectural history as the “Classic” period.

When the northern Maya were finally integrated into the Toltec society by A.D. 1200, the Maya dynasty finally came to a close, although some smaller cities continued to thrive until the Spanish Conquest in the early sixteenth century (Ruddell).