The Mayan civilisation is far older than the Aztecs, although the Aztecs absorbed many of the customs and cultures of their hosts who were influenced by the Maya, and whom they later came to dominate. However it is not entirely clear when Mayan civilisation truly began. The Mayan long count calendar suggests 3114BC, however it is not clear whether this is a historical date inherited from the Olmecs or a legendary creation date.

The Pre-Classical Period started around 1800 to 2000BC (although it is suggested to have started even earlier around 2600BC in Belize) and extended through to around 250AD, from there it became known as the Classical period which extended to 900AD. After this is typically called the Post Classic period, which extended up to the arrival of the Spaniards & Conquistadors, although the Mayan civilisation still exists today in a syncretized form.
The Pre-Classical Period peoples grew rich by extracting jade, obsidian and seashells. These semi precious stones were used in jewellery, ritual offerings, and expensive crafted wares and for utilitarian use with the obsidian producing reliably sharp edges. They also came rich through the cultivation of cacao (from which Chocolate is produced), the pods and nibs of which traditionally was traded as currency as well as other forms of trade. This culture may have had influence and interactions with the even older Olmec civilisation with whom they traded, but the roots of the Mayan civilisation are still yet to be understood. Around 100AD, the first of two major social collapses started, the cause is still open to debate.
In 250AD, things started to improve for the Mayans and they started to build their mega cities and temple complexes. During the classical period, the Mayan population was in the millions, so for the time was a very large civilisation. Trade, political and social contacts were broad and were quite ingrained to the culture, becoming an important networking system, including trade much further north and in the Caribbean. During this period has several centuries of abundant rainfall, which helped agriculture and the civilisation to flourish, but whenever the climate changed, it led to problems with the harvest, food supplies and consequent warfare, which was both political and for religious purposes.
By 900AD, the civilisation began its second great collapse, with cities once again being abandoned. The sequence of events is still unknown, however scholars and archaeology suggest it was largely the effect of drought and reduction of rainfall, partly contributed by clearing large areas of forest for agriculture. Dependent on access to clean water supplies and rain for the crops that became increasingly scarce, by 1100AD, the peak of the Mayan civilisation was over.
After this period is typically called the Post-Classic and Colonial Periods. Several larger cities managed to survive, perhaps as a result of careful management or that the droughts had not affected them so severely, but also came under increasing external cultural influences. This culture persisted for another few hundred years until they had become reduced to rival city states, which were far more susceptible to the conquering Spaniards. However, it made things more difficult for the conquistadors; unlike the Aztecs and Inca societies, which were run from a central government, the Mayans had no overreaching central structure and so fought independently, often fiercely until one by one they were conquered. Often the conquered communities rebelled which slowed their progress. The conquistadors also had bigger fish to fry as the Mayan territory were not as rich in precious metals as the Aztec and Peruvian nations as the Spanish had hoped, so it took as long as 170 years to completely conquer the Mayan civilisation.;
, Central to many of the Mayan communities was the local ruler and his family, who ran a hereditary throne as well as possibly had near absolute power with the associated belief in divine rule (ie, the King was chosen to rule by the Gods). These rulers would often lead the community in social, political and religious roles.


The visiting Spaniards (after the larger collapse of the Maya) often observed the later cities as little more than a neighbourhood surrounding a temple and palace complex. For this non-centralist politic of the Mayans meant few if any were large cities made the size of the far larger Aztec cities such as Tenochtitlan.
Scribes were a highly respected social class within the Mayan communities, often being priests or of the nobility themselves. The higher caste of priest was more involved in teaching the mathematics and sciences, writing books, appointing new priests acted as advisors and being involved in the higher level rituals. The priests in charge of the sacrifices tended to have a lower status, where the higher status was reserved for the oracle priests and high priests.
Most people (who didn't specialise as warriors) were involved in a service or manufacturing trade, as the civilisation depended on trade to be able to sustain its larger communities and cities. Most produced things such as jewellery, textiles, fine ceramics, paper and book making, and other wares that were often very labour intensive, as the absence of hard metals and many hard stones limited the development of tools and mass production.
There was long distance as well as regional trade so travel between cities was a common occupation for some people. Salt often was dehydrated along the coastlines and traded along with fish and shells to the interior. Lower lands tended to grow Chocolate (Theobroma Cacao) which was traded up to higher mountain areas and other long distance traded goods included honey, precious and hard stones as well as precious metals, decorative feathers and decorative wares, books, ceramics and textiles.
Building the monuments and cities, as well as agriculture would have played an important role. Unfortunately, warfare was also a common threat, if not part of the social structure so local dynasties would often be at threat. The Mayan civilisation was far from a utopia in this regard.
An important social group were those who specialised in herbal medicines, the Mayan climate and landscape being ideal for the growth of pathogens as well as injuries and industrial accidents.
The royalty, referred to as the k'uhul ajaw or holy lords were often viewed almost as demigods, being related to the Gods themselves. This helped them to cement their hereditary dynasties, but also placed them at the forefront of a very religious society, acting as an intermediary to the Gods. Bloodletting as a ritualized method was common amongst the nobility.
It was a fairly popular practice to deform the shape of the head from a very young age. Desirable traits were a flat forehead, often created by tying a wooden board to the infants head to give the backward sloping effect. Also desirable was developing a cross-eyed feature, by dangling a small object in front of them until their eyes developed. Some communities preferred shaping their noses, which were sometimes broken to achieve.
 Like the Aztecs, many of the ancient works were destroyed, so fragments and secreted volumes are all that are left for scholars.

The Popol Vuh, a later work written in colonial times suggests in the Mayan creation myth that the world started as nothing but the sea and the sky (presumably locked in an eternal night), devoid of life. The gods gave light, created the lands and then life. Animals were created first and humans much later although the primary animals created were later turned into stones. The creation of man seemed to have been a trial and error exercise of the Gods, who created man first out of mud and wood, yet finding them mind-less, destroyed them and created man as humans, after a short while, the Gods created the feminine gender.
Like other Meso-American cultures, the Mayans believed in the world composed of three realms, the world, the underworld and the Heavens with gods ruling each of these. The Mayans often performed ritual offerings, as well as sacrifices in scale from symbolic to human sacrifices for a range of reasons such as to appeal to the Gods; to send the victim to Xibalba (the spirit world) with a message or request; to make the sun rise and the growing seasons to come; as a blood debt or acknowledgment to the creators; or to create relations with a particular deity.
Unique among many cultures around the world in its time, the Mayan had a complex number system which included a zero, which allowed them to compute larger mathematical systems. The Mayans were also adept in astronomy in relation to time and the seasons. It is possible that the Mayan were one of the earliest cultures with both a developed writing system and mathematics in Meso America. While there are older cultures that also had this system in a basic form, it seems they flourished and developed under the Maya.
Like many other Meso American cultures, the Mayan had a developed and complex calendar system. The Calendar did have a 365 day and 52 subsection denominations, but the calendar operated more distinct from the solar system, often focusing on lunar movements and the movement of Venus, which was often associated with war.
 The Mayans were specialised in surviving in the rainforest climate, as while it was drier further north and south, civilizations sprouted around lakes and river systems which were ideal for agriculture as well as shipping their wares for trade, but also needed a centralized system to manage the resource. However in the lowlands where the Maya lived, there were few river systems, so the Maya depended on rainfall for their agriculture.


One of the common pastimes was the ballgame which was often played in large, grand courts. While the rules and even the purpose of the game is not fully known, its reckoned that the game was played as a hobby, as well as professionally played in the grand ball courts in the cities. The Meso-American ballgame is possibly the first sport to use a rubber ball and a similar ballgame known as Ulama is still played in central America.
The cities generally held the most people, with population ranging from 5000 up to 50,000 people. It was likely to have been a busy place, with the large plazas thronging with traders and civilians. Apart from grand palace and temple complexes, the cities also held schools, libraries and hospitals. But by the time to Spanish arrived, most of these cities were abandoned and lost to the jungle with the remaining people living in small villages.
The cities were often the sites of visits by religious pilgrims, as well as entertainments such as festivals and ball games. Outside of the cities were often many smallholder farms to grow food for the inhabitants. Those that weren't involved in trade or a skilled labour were typically involved in agriculture.
The young children in Maya communities were trained for a very early age to have a strong work ethic and to support their elders and community. Children started their training as young as 5, typically by their mothers but after this age, boys were raised more by their fathers in a trade or agriculture. By 15, or when they reached puberty they typically had reached a key stage in life and a ritualised celebration was held for them. After this they were expected to be independent as adults, marriage was possible at this age.
The cities primarily were built to make a grand statement of open space with the plazas and causeways being impressively defined with large buildings and pyramids. Later in the history, the cities became more security conscious and open space became a lesser priority as much as fortifications.
 Mayan cuisine was quite varied, although still similar to many of the other local cultures and civilisations in Meso America.

Typical foods were beans, maize varieties, squash and cucurbits, and chilli peppers. Other valued crops were avocados, tomatoes, papaya, pineapple, edible flowers, agave, sweet potatoes and herbs or spices such as vanilla, allspice, native oregano and native aniseed.
The Mayans grew large scale as well as small scale agriculture in forest gardens known as pet kot, which were typically a small garden within a loose stone wall enclosure.
The Maya civilisation was possibly the first to create and value chocolate, creating a drink known as cacahuatl, which influenced the Aztecs from whom we get the word Xocolatl - the base word for chocolate.
Maize was a central staple, being ground into a paste or meal, which would then be made into tortilla or tamales, cooked into beverages such as atole and gruel and cooked in many other ways. It was often processed, being mixed with an alkali such as lye and this process would make many of its nutrients more accessible.
Protein was more common to the Mayan and included turkey, dog meat, deer, monkey, wildfowl, iguana as well as seafood such as fish, shellfish, and turtle.
 Mayan textiles were a highly artistic occupation and the textiles created were often used as gifts and tributes to both the royalty and the Gods.

Clothing was a very labour intensive job, mostly performed by the women. The fibres needed to be gathered and processed from scratch to make the thread and yarn, which could then be weaved or made into a brocade and tapestry. Cotton was the common fabric of choice, but it needed to be washed and picked free of seeds (which was very labour intensive). Other fibres tended to come from native species such as maguey which gave a robust fibre for ropes, hammocks and other tough fabrics.
The method used almost always was with a backstrap, which meant one end of the woven fabric was attached to a wall or a fixture and the other end was attached to a strap to which wrapped around the seated weaver, which would hold it straight and taut.
Fabrics were often coloured vibrantly with dye, as well as tie dyed methods for impact to create a valued gift.
Men typically wore a breechcloth (a style of loincloth) as well as a sleeveless shirt, which was white or coloured. Men of higher ranks would often wear jewellery and ceremonial headwear and neckwear, often made of jade or precious textiles.
Women wore a dress known as a huitl, which was often white and decorated simply, or coloured and highly decorated for special occasions. The huitl is similar to a large loose tunic, which was made to make a dress that went from the shoulders to varying lengths according to local custom, sometimes to the ankles.
Both men and women typically wore sandals, although deer hide moccasins were known. As the weather was tropical for much of the year, in the cooler dry period, both sexes wore a large rectangular piece of cloth that served as a wrap, a blanket at night as well as re-used as a curtain or tapestry depending on how well decorated they were and how wealthy the household was.

Explore the Mayan Civilisation history.
Explore Mayan social structures.
Explore Mayan Religion, Philosophy and sciences.
Explore daily life in a Maya city.
Discover Mayan Cuisine.
Learn about the clothing of the Maya.
Explore more facets of the Maya civilisation to learn more about this society and its impacts on modern Central America.
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