Classical period lasts from 325 to 925 AD. It is divided into Early Classic (325-625 AD.) – when was stopped the outside influence and appeared own features, such as Cone arch in the architecture and registration of historical dates using hieroglyphs; period of the heyday (625-800 AD.), when was reached its maximum brightness in mathematics, […]
The earliest known contact by Europeans probably occurred during the last voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1502. However, the existence of the Maya did not become fully known to the outside world until 1517, when three ships commanded by Francisco Hernandez de Cordova landed at Cape Catoche. They arrived back in Cuba almost dead from […]
By the 1840’s most historians and archaeologists believed that the Mayan Civilization could not have been built by an indigenous culture. Originally, archaeologists believed that the Mayan civilization must have built by people who were descendants of Egypt. Most of this theory was based on the fact that they both had pyramids. No one believed […]
The Mayans worshiped a broad array of deities. The exact order of their importance is not exactly clear. However, it is believed that the ancient Mayans called their supreme god Hunab Кu. Hunab Ku was the creator of the universe. He was so sacred that he took no part in everyday human affairs. Next in […]
We know that this first people entered the New World from Asia by way of the Bering Strait. This occurred during the Pleistocene or Ice Age. between 10.000 to 20.000 years ago. Armed with flint-tipped spears, and wearing animal skinned clothing these people slowly spread throughout the hemisphere. Mostly, they lived in caves and under […]
When the Spaniards entered Guatemala they soon realized that unlike the Aztecs or the Incas, the Mayans were not a single nation, and there was no empire governed by a supreme ruler. Instead, they were forced to defeat one city-State after another. Probably, the most organized of these city-states were the Quiche Mayans, and the […]
The architecture of the Maya was extraordinarily impressive in terms of size, design, and external decoration. It becomes even more amazing when we realize that they did not have metal tools, the wheel, or pack animals. Mayan architects used a variety of methods to enhance the beauty of their buildings. Almost always they elevated temples […]
During the Classic period, the Maya made significant advancements in the fields of astronomy and calendric. The Maya observed three distinct calendars. They were the 260-day sacred year (tzolkin) calendar, the tun or 360-day year, and the vague year calendar, which was divided into eighteen months of twenty days each. Unquestionably, the most outstanding Mayan […]
January 15, 2010. INAH. At Lagartero, Chiapas, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) discovered a nearly 1000 years-old stele with a bas-relief of the conquest of a Maya group by other. The finding took place in late 2009 at the 10th body of Pyramid 4 in the archaeological zone to be open […]
