The Maya the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica (a term used to describe Mexico and Central America before the 16th century Spanish conquest).

The Maya were located in modern day Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador.

The Maya civilization created great stone cities and monuments between A.D. 250 to 900

The Great Cities of the Mayan civilization -Classic Maya civilization grew to some 40 cities, each city held a population of between 5,000 and 50,000 people. At its peak, the Maya population may have reached 2,000,000. -Tikal Uaxactún Copán Bonampak Dos Pilas Calakmul Palenque Río Bec

COPAN, Honduras.  An UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, Famous for its artistic sculpture.

 TIKAL, Guatemala.  The third UNESCO’s World Heritage Site, and Mayan Capital Temple IV is one of the tallest of Maya structures at 212 feet

PALENQUE, Mexico.  Another World Heritage Site, Palenque is prized for its well-preserved buildings, carved stucco ornamentation, delicate bas-reliefs and lengthy hieroglyphic texts. 

Chichén Itzá Located in The Yucatán Peninsula

Ballcourt goal

The great Ballcourt

The Maya developed an important system of mathematics The Maya developed an important system of mathematics. It was more advanced than the systems used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, or Romans. The Maya were perhaps the first people to use the idea of zero. This was an important invention. Our discussion continued with the Maya's development of an advanced system of astronomy. The priests studied the movement of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. To study the heavens, the Maya built large observatories in many of their cities. The observatory at Chichen Itza is one of the important Mayan buildings that still stands.

the Maya also made significant advances in -mathematics -astronomy, -the use of the zero -develop a written language -a ball game - development a calendar based on 365 days.

The great cities are abandoned One by one, the Classic cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned, and by A.D. 900, Maya civilization in that region had collapsed. The reason for this mysterious decline is unknown

When the Spanish arrived in 1517 the remaining Mayan people lived in small scattered villages

Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba Was the first Spanish explorer to arrived in the Maya area.

In 1562 Friar Diego de Landa in an attemp to spread Christianity burned most of the mayan religious books and any manuscript the Maya had.

The Maya were conquered by the Spanish

The living Maya

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