Mayan Archaeological Investigation

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

The Mayans were a civilization that lived in modern day Central America, also known as Mesoamerica, for around 3,000 years. They survived by growing corn, beans and squash by using slash-and-burn agriculture, cutting down and burning old crops. Over time, the Mayans created the most intellectually innovative cultures known to mankind. Using the criteria of genius, scale, effort, and genius, what was the most significant Mayan achievement? Of the four leading achievements such as their number system, trade system, calendars, and the creation of the Mayan city, the building of the Mayan city was the most significant.

Chaco Canyon, located in what is New Mexico today, closer to Arizona, is one of the archeological sites with many hypothesis and conclusions full of contradiction because of its complexity of what was happening there during Chaco’s economical peak. It is one of the prehistorical places that hold the history of the humans and how complex the organization between social, religious and economical was. The remains of the amazing tall and complex buildings surrounded with roads helped the archeologists to hypothesize the use of those buildings and those roads that surrounded them.

The Maya has a rich culture, tradition and life styles such as lifeways through costumes, rituals, diet, handicrafts, language, housing, or other features that would attract tourist. It is estimated that between 35 and 40 percent of tourism today is represented by cultural tourism or heritage tourism. However, in some places such as Roaten Island on Honduras and would use that tourism as an advantage and would create fake Maya artifacts and invent an idealized Maya past for the island.

What happened to the Mayan civilization before it mysteriously collapsed is still a mystery, but heart-stopping achievements were made. Throughout 3000 years the Native tribe of the Maya inhabited México, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras until the Spanish arrived. They were so secluded from anyone else, that they could not learn information from other tribes and they came up with all ideas themselves.(BGE) Trade routes, the creation of beautiful cities, establishing the number system and developing three calendars we all breathtaking achievements accomplished by the Mayan culture. Using scale, effort, genius, and significance four achievements will be argued about which was the most remarkable. Obviously the development

The Mayans were hardworking people who lived in Mesoamerica. A thousand years ago before the spanish arrived, the maya built a great civilization. What many seem to question is what was so remarkable about what this group did.The four criterias scale, genius, physical effort and significance will be examined to see which was actually remarkable. People today argue over which Mayan achievement was the greatest - the trade network, numbers, calendars, and city-buildings , however true to say is that the building cities was the achievement that set the group off to great contributions.

The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica. The growth of the great Mayan civilization is as much a mystery as its disappearance. The Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D (http://www.history.com/topics/maya#). As a youth growing up in Belize Central America, I was very much intrigued by the Mayan civilization as we would regularly take educational field trips to the massive stone temples of Xunantunich and Altun Ha. Both Mayan ruins were no more than 50 miles away from my childhood home. Most of what we know about the Maya comes from what remains of their architecture and art, including stone carvings and inscriptions on their buildings and monuments. The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn.

The Maya society underwent a drastic climate change, and were given little understanding on how to live around it. Climate can do a lot to a population within hours of a day, as weather is what survival surrounds. The Classic Maya was well adapted to the heavy rainfall they received, in fact, much of their agriculture and culture surrounded. So it would seem ironic that a heavy drought would be the root cause of their disappearance, and yet this was the case. Peter deMenocal analyzed a wide range of data from all over the world, looking for a link which connected human communities with natural disasters especially droughts. He found that despite there being other possible situation to the collapse of the Classic Maya society, it wasn’t possible for them to be the sole reason and thus, reasoning that the enduring climatic situation which was presented to the society during the time was truly

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

The economic interaction in the Mirador Basin during the Late Preclassic period was based and centralized on agriculture, craft production and distribution of goods. The Preclassic Maya royal elites of El Mirador controlled labor and obtained from farmers living in the suburbs in order to maintain and sponsor large ceremonies in regional centers. The elites likely had tighter control over agricultural resources and labor. The degree of economic control achieved by Preclassic elites was enhanced or limited by the differential distribution and location of water systems and agricultural lands. In El Mirador, some suburban centers (e.g. Sacalero, and Los Faisanes) enjoyed control over their labor and agricultural products when water sources for

The Mayans were some of the smarts out of the civilians. They had raised dog and turkeys is in pens. El Mirador center cover 10 square miles and was home to thousands of monuments,temples,homes and other buildings. They developed one of the first solar calendar. They made the first 260 day calendar.

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).