Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
greatly; Tikal has a stela (a freestanding carved monument) depicting a Tikal lord on
one side and a warrior from Teotihuacán on the other.
Most of the now ruined cities that we see today were built during the Classic period,
almost always over earlier structures. Elaborately carved stelae, bearing dates and
emblem-glyphs, tell of actual events in rulers' lives - battles, marriages, dynastic
succession and so on. The deciphering of these dates has provided confirmation (or
otherwise) of archeological evidence and offers major insights. Made up of independent
city-states, the Maya region was bound together by religion, culture and sophisticated
trade. The cities jostled for power and influence, occasionally erupting into warfare,
with three or four main centres dominating through a process of alliances.
Calakmul
, in
Campeche, Mexico, and Tikal were the nearest of these “superstates” to Belize, and in
562 AD an alliance of Calakmul and Caracol, in southern Cayo District, defeated
Tikal, as shown by an inscription on Altar 21 at Caracol. Other detailed carvings on
wooden lintels and stone monuments at the site depict costumed lords trampling on
bound captives. Victory of the subordinate state over the dominant regional power may
well have caused the major upheaval that followed.
The collapse of Teotihuacán in the seventh century caused shock waves throughout
the civilizations of Mesoamerica in what is known as the
Middle Classic Hiatus
. No
stelae were erected in the Maya cities, and many existing monuments were defaced.
Warfare raged as rival lords strove to win political power in the dominant Maya centres.
But as new kings established dynasties, free of Teotihuacán's political control, Maya
cities flourished as never before. Architecture, astronomy and art reached degrees of
sophistication unequalled by any other pre-Columbian society. Many centres were
larger than their contemporary Western European counterparts, then in their “Dark
Ages”: Caracol had an estimated 150,000 people.
The prosperity and grandeur of the
Late Classic period
(600 AD-850 AD) reached all
across the Maya lands: from Bonampak and Palenque in the west, to Calakmul and Uxmal
in the north, Altun Ha and Cerros in the east, and Copán and Quiriguá in the south.
Masterpieces of painted pottery and carved jade (the Maya's most precious material) were
crafted, often to be used as funerary offerings, while exquisite works of shell, bone and
(rarely) marble also appeared. Temples were painted in brilliant colours, and though most
pigments have faded, enough vestiges remain to vividly reconstruct the ancient cities.
Collapse of the Classic Maya
Though it was abrupt when the end came for each Maya centre, it took around a
century (
Terminal Classic
; 800 AD-c.1000 AD) for Classic Maya civilization to be
extinguished in Belize. By 750 AD alliances and trade links were breaking down,
warfare increased and stelae were carved less frequently. The sacking of Dos Pilas, in the
Petexbatún region of southwest Petén, by nearby Tamandarito in 761 AD is regarded as
the first phase of the
Classic Maya collapse
. Strife and disorder spread throughout
Mesoamerica, cities became depopulated, and new construction ceased over much of
Belize by 830 AD. Bonampak, in Chiapas, was abandoned before its famous murals
could be completed, and many of the great sites along the River Usumacinta (now the
border between Guatemala and Mexico) were occupied by militaristic outsiders.
The decline and subsequent collapse of Classic Maya civilization had several probable
causes. Strong evidence suggests that a prolonged drought in central Yucatán caused
800 AD
987 AD
1000 AD
Terminal Classic period:
Decline of Classic Maya
civilization, but some sites,
notably Lamanai, survive
Yucatán sites show evidence of
Toltec culture, which is grafted
onto Maya culture, probably
extending into Belize
Early Postclassic period: Toltec
domination of the Guatemalan
highlands
