Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Preclassic Period (2000 BC-AD 250)
The Preclassic period is generally thought to have coincided with the emergence of stable
social structures and early forms of agriculture, pottery and tool-making in what is now
Mexico and Guatemala. The improvement in the food supply led to an increase in popula-
tion, a higher standard of living and developments in agricultural and artistic techniques.
Decorative pots and healthier, fatter corn strains were produced. Even at the beginning of
the Preclassic period, people in Guatemala spoke an early form of the Maya language.
By the middle Preclassic period (800-300 BC) there were rich villages in the Copán Val-
ley, and villages had been founded at what would become the majestic city of Tikal, amid
the jungles of El Petén. Trade routes developed, with coastal peoples exchanging salt and
seashells for highland tribes' tool-grade obsidian.
As the Maya honed their agricultural techniques, including the use of fertilizer and elev-
ated fields, a noble class emerged, constructing temples which consisted of raised platforms
of earth topped by thatch-roofed shelters. The local potentate was buried beneath the shel-
ter, increasing the site's sacred power. Such temples have been found at Uaxactún, Tikal
and El Mirador. Kaminaljuyú, in Guatemala City, reached its peak from about 400 BC to
AD 100, with thousands of inhabitants and scores of temples built on earth mounds.
In El Petén, where limestone was abundant, the Maya began to build platform temples
from stone. As each succeeding local potentate demanded a bigger temple, larger and larger
platforms were built over existing platforms, eventually forming huge pyramids. The po-
tentate was buried deep within the stack of platforms. El Tigre pyramid at El Mirador, 18
stories high, is believed to be the largest ever built by the Maya. More and more pyramids
were built around large plazas. The stage was set for the flowering of Classic Maya civiliz-
ation.
The Maya,
by Michael D Coe, is probably the best single-volume, not-too-long telling of the ancient Maya
story. Coe's
Breaking the Maya Code
recounts the modern decipherment of ancient Maya writing, and his
Reading the Maya Glyphs
will help you read ancient inscriptions.
