The Late Preclassic cultural florescence collapsed in the 1st century AD and many of the great Maya cities of the epoch were abandoned the cause of this collapse is as yet unknown. The city of Tikal, later to be one of the most important of the Classic Period Maya cities, was already a significant city by around 350 BC, although it did not match El Mirador. The swamps of the Mirador Basin appear to have been the primary attraction for the first inhabitants of the area as evidenced by the unusual cluster of large cities around them. El Mirador is considered to be one of the first capital cities of the Maya civilization. It possessed paved avenues, massive triadic pyramid complexes dated to around 150 BC, and stelae and altars that were erected in its plazas. In the Late Preclassic Period, the enormous city of El Mirador grew to cover approximately 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi). Murals excavated in 2005 have pushed back the origin of Maya writing by several centuries, with a developed script already being used at San Bartolo in Petén by the 3rd century BC, and it is now evident that the Maya participated in the wider development of Mesoamerican writing in the Preclassic. By approximately 400 BC, near the end of the Middle Preclassic period, early Maya rulers were raising stelae that celebrated their achievements and validated their right to rule. The northern lowlands of Yucatán were widely settled by the Middle Preclassic. Nakbe already featured the monumental masonry architecture, sculpted monuments and causeways that characterised later cities in the Maya lowlands. Nakbe in the Petén Department of Guatemala is the earliest well-documented city in the Maya lowlands, where large structures have been dated to around 750 BC. By 500 BC these cities possessed large temple structures decorated with stucco masks representing gods. ĭuring the Middle Preclassic Period, small villages began to grow to form cities. This period, known as the Early Preclassic, was characterized by sedentary communities and the introduction of pottery and fired clay figurines. Settlements were established around 1800 BC in the Soconusco region of the Pacific coast, and they were already cultivating the staple crops of the Maya diet, including maize, beans, squash, and chili pepper. Discoveries of Maya occupation at Cuello, Belize have been carbon dated to around 2600 BC. Scholars continue to discuss when this era of Maya civilization began. The Maya developed their first civilization in the Preclassic period. Main article: Preclassic Maya Structure 5 at Takalik Abaj was built during the Middle Preclassic. The Preclassic lasted from approximately 3000 BC to approximately 250 AD this was followed by the Classic, from 250 AD to roughly 950 AD, then by the Postclassic, from 950 AD to the middle of the 16th century. Definitions of the start and end dates of period spans can vary by as much as a century, depending on the author. Modern scholars regard these periods as arbitrary divisions of chronology of the Maya civilization, rather than indicative of cultural evolution or decadence. The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods: the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods these were preceded by the Archaic Period, which saw the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |