HUX 576 - Key Periods and Movements,
The Maya, along with other cultures in ancient Mesoamerica, evolved a bar and dot numbering system. A horizontal line, or bar, denoted the number 5, while a dot denoted the number 1. The dots were always placed above the bars. The Olmecs were the first to use this system.
The earliest Maya were hunters and gatherers. Agriculture developed in Mesoamerica around 5000 B.C. with the domestication of maize, beans, and other crops. Radio-carbon dates of pottery from the site of Cuello in Belize indicate that clay vessels were made there as early as 2500 B.C. Burials of corpses with jade beads, decorative shells, and stingray spines for ceremonial bloodletting appeared during the end of the pre-classic period. Ceremonial sites became differentiated from living areas around 450 B.C.
The demarcation between the pre-classic and classic eras is usually defined by the appearance of ashlar (rectangular cut stone blocks) masonry vaulted buildings, the erection of carved dated stone stelae, and the painting of polychrome pottery and bark paper manuscripts. Apparently both the numerical and glyphic systems became thoroughly developed in the early classic period. Large ceremonial centers, comprised of buildings around planned plazas and architectural sculpture are other hallmarks of the classic era. Mayan society and art seem to have flourished during this time. Although most of the people were farmers, a ruling elite existed in each major city during the classic period. These rulers' duties may have been not only political, but also religious. Another group of specialized craftsmen, such as stone carvers and potters, may have constituted a sort of middle class.
Around 900 both the agricultural and political systems of the Maya seem to have collapsed. Some scholars believe that drought and soil erosion caused the abandonment of formerly flourishing sites, while other think that warfare and revolution were the reasons for the widespread depopulation of the Mayan sites and a simultaneous decline in the quality of art and architecture.
During the post-classic period influences from either the warlike Toltecs of central Mexico or the Putun Mayan from Tabasco appeared in Yucatan. The use of chac mools (sacrificial figures), tzompantli (skull racks), and columned halls point to a Central Mexican influence. Since no written records of events in the early post-classic era remain, archaeological evidence is the basis for this speculation. The Maya ceased erecting dated stelae in the post-classic period. The late post-classic site of Mayapan exhibits sloppy stone masonry and some Mexican traits. It is completely surrounded by a defense wall, which suggests political instability and imminent invasion.
In 1542 Francisco de Montejo founded the city of Mérida in Yucatan and began the subjugation of the lowland Maya. These Indians were extremely reluctant to give up their way of life and fought fiercely against the Spanish until 1697, when the Tayasal in the central Petén were finally conquered by Martín de Ursua.
Throughout the centuries Mayan house construction has remained constant. A few examples can still be found in remote areas of the Yucatan peninsula. These one room huts have vertical wooden poles placed closely together for walls, branches lashed together with vines for the roof frame, and palm leaves for the roof thatch. A depiction of a hut was carved in relief on the portal gateway at Labná in the state of Yucatan during the classic period. The thatching patterns and ridgepole of the roof are clearly visible amidst an intricate design.
A number of scholars believe that Mayan ceremonial sites were laid out according to their relation to the passage of the planets, especially the sun, moon, and stars. The typical ceremonial center has a more or less rectangular plaza in the middle. Often there are subsidiary plazas nearby that are also surrounded by structures.