Mayan Eras: Classical Era (200-900 AD)


Figure 1.-- Progress in deciphering Mayan glyphs have provided fascinating details about Mayan history. We now know that something very significant happened in the 4th century AD. At first it was thought that invaders arrived from the West, presumably Teoteouacan. It is now believed that it was probably a faction that had been defeated and returned after forming an alliance with Teoteouacan. Their war leader appears to have been a teenager--Fire is Born. Besides military success, there seems to have been a substantial cultural transfer. This is a modern depiction of the young war lord with foreign arifacts--googles and a spear thrower.

The Maya became a civiization of major importance about 250 AD in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize. Progress in deciphering Mayan glyphs have provided fascinating details about Mayan history. We now know that something very significant happened in the 4th century AD. At first it was thought that invaders arrived from the West, presumably Teoteouacan. It is now believed that it was probably a faction that had been defeated and returned after forming an alliance with Teoteouacan. Their war leader appears to have been a teensager--Fire is Born. Besides military success, there seemns to have been a substantial cultural transfer. The Mayan classical era is generally seen to have flourished from about 200-800 AD. Some date the Classic Maya civilization to a briefer period (750-900), but this migjt be seen as the Golden Age. Most great civilizations have a kind of Golden Age. Many of the best known Mayan sites are in the tropical forest of the eastern Peten or Mayan lowlands. The decline of the Maya is one of the great mysteries in archeology. There are numerous theories. Some postulate invasions and a sudden decline. A few sites show a rapid collapse and charred remains suggesting a war or peasant revolt. This is not, however, the general pattern. There are scholars that identify the religion and waring city states as a reason for the decline. Some climate change and or crop failures. Increasingly archelogists are coming to believe that the decline was a more gradual process than was once believed. The process appears to have involved expanding populations which required over cultivation of available land resulting in decling yields that could not support dense populations. Archeologhists agree that the Maya at the peak of the classical era densely populated their homelasnd. Some archeologists believe that the monumental building in particvular required vast amounts of lime resulting in deforestation that stressed the enviroment. Other researchers believe that climate change, especially declining rainfall may have been a major factor. [Haug]

Location

The Maya became a civiization of major importance about 250 AD in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize. Many of the best known Mayan sites are in the tropical forest of the eastern Petén or Mayan lowlands. The most impressive developments are found in the Petén jungle (northern Guatemala) and surrounding lowland areas. It was here that the major classical city states developed: Tikal, Piedras Negras, and Copán.

History

Archaeological work and progress in deciphering Mayan glyphs have provided fascinating details about Mayan history. The Maya began to emerge in the Guatemalan Highlands. This was the center of the Mayan Pre-Classical period. Mayan cities began to become importnt in the central lowlands (about 200-300 AD). We now know that something very significant happened in the 4th century AD. At first it was thought that invaders arrived from the West, presumably Teoteouacan. It is now believed that it was probably a faction that had been defeated and returned after forming an alliance with Teoteouacan. Their war leader appears to have been a teenager--Fire is Born. Besides military success, there seemns to have been a substantial cultural transfer (weaponry, captives, ritual practices and human sacrifice). Mayan cities in the Guatemalan highlands decline (around 400 AD). The Maya flourished in the cetral lowlands of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The principal city states of the Classic period were Tikal (Guatemala), Palenque and Yaxchilán (Chiapas, Mexico), Copán and Quirigua (Honduras). The populastion was centered in the central lowlands of Mexico and Belize. Tikal becomes the first great Maya city (around 500 AD). The civilization at Teotihuacan collapse amid unknon circumstances (around 600 AD). Tikal becomes the largest city-state in Mesoamerica , with as many as 500,000 inhabitants within the city and its hinterland. The Emperor Pacal died at the age of 80 in Palenque (683). Long-standing Maya alliances begin to break down (750s) Trade between Maya city-states declines, and inter-state conflict increases. Construction ceases in Tikal (869) and the city is abandoned (899). The population centers of the central lowlands declined percipitously. This is the end of the classical era of the southern lowland cities. The northern Yucatan was during the classical era sparsely populated only a few small cities. Maya cities in the northern Yucatan survive and begin to grow in importance. This would be the Post-Classical era.

Chronology

The Mayan classical era is generally seen to have flourished from about 200-800 AD. Maya civilization became notably more complex (about 300 AD). The population increased and urban centers began developing. The urban centers in both the highlands and lowlands increased contacts, both cooperation and competition. Trade expanded as did warfare. These contacts stimulated cultural development. The lowland centers gradually became densely populated jungle cities. At the center of these cities the Maya built enormous stone and masonry temple pyramid and palace complexes. The center of Tikal covered about 9 sq km and included about 2,700 structures with an estimated population of 11,300. The total area of Tikal, including the core and peripheral city sreas as well as surrounding rural areas has been estimated at 314 sq km with a population exceeding 90,000 people. Some date the Classic Maya civilization to a briefer period (750-900), but this migjt be seen as the Golden Age. Most great civilizations have a kind of Golden Age.

Social Structure

Mayan society became increasingly complex. Recognizable social classes appeared. The Maya developed a complex, hierarchical society divided into classes and professions. Nobles emerged as hereditary ruling class. Although there was no centralized Maya state, developments in the different socity states were remnkably similar. Each city was ruled by a hereditary king or lord. The kings emerged from the tribal chiefs of the pre-clasical period. They were part of the nobility. Clans within the nobility competed for the kingship.

Teotihuacán

Teotihuacán armies moved as far south as the is the ancient Meso-American city located in the Valley of Mexico, about 40 kilometres northeast of modern-day Mexico City. It was the single most powerful Meso-American culture. It was the largest, most influential, culture. And it was revered long after it passed from history. It flourished in Mesoamerica's Golden Age, the Classic Period of the first millennium AD. The city was by two gigantic pyramids dedicated to the sun and moomn arranged with other structures alomg an extended sacred avenue. Its architecture, art, and religion would influence subsequent Meso-American cultures. Its influence spread far beynd Mexico's Cental Valley as far as the Maya of Central America. Historians argue the extent to which Teotihuacan was an imperial state or a cultural influence. It is inconceibanle that Teotihuacan woul not have conquered neigbiring people in the the Cental Valley. Just how far the political control of Teotihuacan extended is not know, but it is known that it extended beyond the Central Valley. Its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented, but actual political control is not well understood. And that influence extends to the Mayan region. Most Meso-American scholars do not believe that Teotihuacán armies moved as far south as the Mayan lands. But there is histirical evidence of contacts as far south as the Tikal/Lale Petén Itzá area (modern northern Guatemala. Hieroglyphic stela at Tikal document the arrival of foreigners (378 AD). And they depict spear throwers (atlatls) and feathered headdresses, similar to what we see in Teotihuacán murals. There are various possibilities, a diplomtic mission, trade emissaries, or even rebels supplied by Teotihuacán. We also see a Teotihuacán influence at Nixtun-Ch'ich', a Mayan city on a peninsula jutting out into Late Petén Itzá. It is laid out in a grid like Teotihuacán. No other Mayan ity is like that. [Wade, p.27.]

Writing


Mathematcs

Surely the greatest achievement of the Mayan civilization was mathematics. The Maya created a very sophisticated mathimatical system at a very early point of the classical era. It was argubly the most advanced math system in the world at the time, certainly more advanced than the Romans and medieval Europe. (The decimal system was not widely used very late (7th century). In fact the British did not go all declimal until the 1860s. Mayan math as in other societis probably began with commerce and commercial record keeping. But Mayan math was far more sophisticated than what was needed for commerce. The Mayan obsession wib the cakendar and astronmy was he impulse for highly sophisticated mathematics. The Mayan and other Mesoamerican cultures used a vigesimal number system. hat means a number system based on 20 (perhaps originting with 5) rather than 10 like the modern decimal system. (The terms are based on he Latin tern for 10 abd 20.) Math historians speculate that both systems probably developed from counting on fingers and toes. The Mayan numerals were very simple. They consisted of only three symbols: zero (for some reason a shell shape), one (a dot), and five (a bar). This how he numbers through 19 looked. Addition and subtraction was simply counting the dots and bars. After 19, larger numbers were written in a vertical place value format using powers of 20: 1, 20, 400, 8000, 160000, etc. For their complicated calendar calculations, the Maya assigned the third position a value of 360 instead of 400, but the higher positions went back to multiples of 20. The fascinating aspect of Mayan math is their nasteru of the concept of zero. The same is true of other Meso-Ameticn cultures. The Maya were able to calculate sums in he hundreds of millions and with dates so far jn the future that they required several lines. What they did not manage to master is concept of a fraction. Even so, they produced astronomical observations that were so accurate that they were able to measure the length of the solar year more accurately than in Europe. And they only had sticks to work with. As thee was no contact with Europe abd Asia unil the conquest, Mayan mathematical achievements had on Old World mathematics. The Gregorian calendar was intriduced in 1582 to correct seasonal slipage, but the mathematics used was not as accurate as the Mayan solar year calculations.

Art

Most Mayan artistic and cultural achievements were made during the Classic period. The Maya painted frescoes and murals to record both their daily life and history. Most of these fscoes along with bthe remples ans palaces were destroyed by the Spanish. A few have been discovered by archaelogogists. The besr example is at Bonampak. Archaeologists in 1946 found the perfectly preserved Bonampak Fresco Cycle (AD 792?). It wass discivered in a buried chasmber near the Lacanhá River in southern Mexico near the Guatemalab border. The magnificent and well preserved fresco was done on several walls. It portrays an account of the last dynastic ruler at Bonampak. One scene depicts how prisoners of war were treated. Nomanpak warriors stand guard over prisoners of war. It is not clear ehat city state they came from. The guards stand on the heads of the bound and bleeding prisoners.

Warfare

Warfare in the classical Maya world was endemic, but limited. It was to an extent ritualistic and ceremonnial. We know about many individual Mayan kings and yheir conquests because they were depicted on stone stelae (carved stone monuments). The depictions show Mayan leaders carrying weapons. The goal of the warfare was capture and sacrifice the rival city state's leaders for both ritual and political purposes. The Maya did not have mass armies. Mayan armies were mostly formed from the nobility. And wars were mormally raids by small war parties. War leaders might on occassions destroy parts of a defeated city, but the ceremonial temples in the hear of the city that was targeted and the wars thus had very little econonic impact. There were occasions when ac city state was conquered, but this was unusual and occured primarily in the later part of the Classical era as the lowland Mayan civilization had begun to collapse.

Religion

Mayan kings also served religious functions. Human sacrifice was practiced on a limited scale.

Decline

The decline of the Maya is one of the great mysteries in archeology. There are numerous theories. Some postulate invasions and a sudden decline. A few sites show a rapid collapse and charred remains suggesting a war or peasant revolt. This is not, however, the general pattern. There are scholars that identify the religion and waring city states as a reason for the decline. Some authors speculsate climate change and or crop failures. Increasingly archelogists are coming to believe that the decline was a more gradual process than was once believed. The process appears to have involved expanding populations which required over cultivation of available land resulting in decling yields that could not support dense populations. Archeologhists agree that the Maya at the peak of the classical era densely populated their homelasnd. Some archeologists believe that the monumental building in particvular required vast amounts of lime resulting in deforestation that stressed the enviroment. Other researchers believe that climate change, especially declining rainfall may have been a major factor. [Haug]

Sources

Haug, Gerald. Nature (January 2006). Haug group researched sediments in China and Venezuela. They studied the Cariaco Basin along the coast of Venezuela. While outside the area of the Maya, there are climatic similarities and at least suggest that this line of research may be productive within the area ingabited by the Maya. The team led by Haug suggests that weak monsoons in China may have been a factor in the demise of the T'ang which disappeared at about the same time as the classical Masya.

Wade, Lizzie. "The city at the begiunning of the world," Archaeology )July-August 2018), pp. 26-31.







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Created: 8:56 AM 2/6/2010
Last updated: 1:39 AM 7/7/2018