This is the Chicana Mayan archeological site near our village! While I could not give Mayan history justice in a paragraph here goes! The Mayans are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. The originated in the Yucatan Peninsula around 2600 BC and around A.D. 250 may their way to southern Mexico, Guatemala, Western Honduras, El salvador and northern Belize. The Mayans are best known for ther development of astronomy, calendrical systems and hierglyphic writting. They were noted for their elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture such as seen above at the Chicana site. They were also very skilled potters and weavers and had extensive trade networks throughout central america
They also developed a comlex, hierchical society divided into classes and professions. They had a centralized goverment system headed by a king which ruled a territoriy clearly defined with boundaries. Unfortuneatly, this sophisticated society was eliminated in the early 1500´s by the Cortez and Montejo and the spanish conquistadors managed to obliterate the nation. Today while much smaller in number, Mayan culture has remained somewhat intact. The Mayans in the Yucatan still speak Yukatek and are often seen wearing traditional close. They are Mayan first and will always be! (source:
www.crystallinks.com/mayanhistory.html)
