Mayan civilization
Ancient Central American culture
The Mayan civilization was an ancient Mesoamerican culture that flourished in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador.
The Maya developed sophisticated writing, mathematics, astronomy, and monumental architecture—including stepped pyramids and elaborate city-states.
Their civilization peaked between roughly 250 and 900 CE, though Mayan peoples and languages persist today.
The ruins at Tikal reveal the scale of Mayan civilization.
- Yucatán PeninsulaSoutheastern Mexican geographic projection
- ballgameOrganized athletic competition
- TikalMaya archaeological site
- Dresden CodexMaya screenfold manuscript
- kingshipRoyal dominion status
blood sacrifice · pyramids · cenote · calendar systems · corn · stelae · stone carvings · Long Count calendar · creation myths · Chichen Itza · cacao · city states · obsidian · Spanish conquest · trade networks · astronomy · Yucatan · priest
- Latin AmericaArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Cuba
- ancient societiesAztec Empire, Inca Empire, African kingdoms, ancient empires, Angkor Wat
- Colonial Americasconquistadors, colonization, Spanish conquest, encomienda, viceroyalty
- Guatemalaquetzal, Ladino, Antigua, Tikal, Guatemala City
- Early MedievalCharlemagne, Carolingian Empire, Carolingians, Carolingian, Viking Age
- Latino HistoryCesar Chavez, UFW, Mexican-American War, farmworkers, braceros
Mayan civilizationancient Egypt
Nile civilization of antiquity
ancient Greece · Roman Empire · ancient China · Persian Empire