Maya Region
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Coordinates: 17°N90°W / 17°N 90°W | |
Location | Belize, Guatemala, western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, southeastern Mexico |
Part of | Mesoamerica |
Area | |
• Total | 125,000 sq mi (320,000 km2)a |
Dimensions | |
• Length | 540 mi (870 km)b |
• Width | 410 mi (660 km)b |
Highest elevation | 13,845 ft (4,220 m)c |
Subdivisions | |
a cf [note 1] b cf [note 2] |
The Maya Region is cultural, first order subdivision of Mesoamerica, located in the eastern half of the latter. Though first settled by Palaeoindians by at least 10,000 BC, it is now most commonly characterised and recognised as the territory which encompassed the Maya civilisation in the pre-Columbian era.
The Maya Region is firmly bounded to the north, east, and southwest by the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean, respectively. [1] [2] It is less firmly bounded to the west and southeast by 'zones of cultural interaction and transition between Maya and non-Maya peoples.' [3] [2] The western transition between Maya and non-Maya peoples roughly corresponds to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, while the southeastern one roughly corresponds to a line running northwards from the mouth of the Lempa River to that of the Ulua River. [4] [2] [5] [note 4]
The Maya Region is traditionally divided into three cultural and geographic, first order subdivisions, namely, the Maya Lowlands, Maya Highlands, and the Maya Pacific. [6] [note 5] The Region's internal borders, like some of its external ones, are not usually precisely fixed, as they are rather demarcated by 'subtle environmental changes or transitions from one zone to another.' [7] [8] Additionally, the Lowlands, Highlands, and Pacific are often further subdivided along similarly imprecise lines, giving rise to a myriad roughly-demarcated second order subdivisions for the Maya Region. [9] [10]
The Maya Lowlands are a low-lying karstic plain stretching from Campeche in Mexico through northern Guatemala and into northwestern Honduras, thereby encompassing all of the Yucatan Peninsula and its abutting plains (including all of Belize). [11] The plain generally lies below 2,625 feet (800 m). [12] [note 6] Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 77–95 °F (25–35 °C) and 20–120 inches (510–3,050 mm), respectively. [13] Wet seasons range from six to eleven months (usually starting in May or June), with dry seasons ranging from one to six months. [13] [note 7]
The Maya Highlands are a geologically-active east-west band of peaks and valleys stretching from Tabasco in Mexico through central Guatemala and into northwestern Honduras, and generally topping 2,625 feet (800 m). [14] [15] Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 59–77 °F (15–25 °C) and 80–120 inches (2,000–3,000 mm), respectively. [16] Wet seasons typically last eight months (May–December), with dry seasons typically compressed to four (January–April). [16] [note 8]
The Maya Pacific, also known as the Pacific Coastal Plain, is a fertile volcanic-sedimentary plain stretching along the Pacific coast from Chiapas in Mexico through southern Guatemala and into western El Salvador. [17] Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 77–95 °F (25–35 °C) and 80–120 inches (2,000–3,000 mm), respectively. [18] Wet seasons typically last eight months (May–December), with dry seasons typically compressed to four (January–April). [18]
The Maya Region is 'one of the most varied environments on earth.' [19] Its terrain ranges from vast sea-level plains to near-inaccessible peaks topping 10,000 feet (3,000 m). [19] [20] Its soils range from rich alluvial and volcanic types to poor karstic ones, resulting in vegetation ranging from lush to sparse. [19] [8] Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 59–95 °F (15–35 °C) and 20–160 inches (500–4,000 mm), respectively. [21] [22] Wet seasons range from six to eleven months, with dry seasons ranging from one to six months. [23] [note 9] Surface freshwater is readily available year-round in some areas, and virtually absent in others. [7] [24] Nonetheless, broadly speaking, the Region is described as featuring two geographic zones , namely, lowlands and highlands, with the former lying below circa 1,000–2,625 feet (305–800 m), and the latter above. [25] [26] Naturally, lowlands are predominantly found within the Maya Lowlands and Pacific, with highlands generally restricted to the Maya Highlands. [26]
The Maya Region is generally described as having two climes, a cool, temperate one (prevalent in highlands), and a hot, tropical one (prevalent in lowlands). [19] Each of these experiences two seasons, a wet one, and a dry one. Rainfall in the wet season is usually heaviest during June and October, and is thereby described as 'following a double-peaked distribution.' [27]
Scholars had 'usually assumed that the climatic conditions which now [2010s] prevail in the Maya [Region] have always been the same, all through Maya prehistory and history[; b]ut recent palaeoclimatic research has challenged this assumption, revealing far more climatic fluctuation that previously anticipated.' [28] [29]
Middle America, including the Maya Region, is thought to have taken shape sometime after 170 million years ago. [30] Its formation is thought to have 'involved [the] complex movement of [various] crustal blocks and terrains between the two pre-existing continental masses [ie North and South America].' [31] Details of the pre-Cenozoic portion of this process (ie 170–67 million years ago), however, are not widely agreed upon. [31] [note 10] Nonetheless, it has been proposed that the northern Lowlands were subaerially exposed by some 150 million years ago. [32] [33] [note 11]
Details of the Cenozoic (ie 66–0 million years ago) geologic history of Middle America, including the Maya Region, are relatively more widely agreed upon. [31] In broad strokes, the Maya Highlands and Pacific are thought to have been subaerially exposed by some 40 million years ago, with these being initially separated from the northern Lowlands by the incipient Bay of Honduras. [34] The Bay is thought to have closed by at least 20 million years ago, thereby finally linking the northern and southern portions of the Maya Region together. [35] [36] [note 12]
Start | End | Unit | Epoch | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
165 | 165 | Ma | Middle Jurassic | Gulf of Mexico seafloor spreading starts | inc. exposed northern Lowlands; cf [37] |
144 | 144 | Ma | Early Cretaceous | Caribbean Sea seafloor spreading starts | cf [37] [note 14] |
120 | 120 | Ma | Early Cretaceous | Chortis Block subduction into southwestern Mexico stops | cf [38] [note 15] |
65 | 65 | Ma | Palaeocene | Chicxulub impact | cf [39] |
49 | 49 | Ma | Eocene | Cayman Trough rifting starts | cf [40] |
26 | 20 | Ma | Oligocene – Miocene | Cayman Trough rifting slows down | cf [40] |
23 | 22 | Ma | Miocene | Farallon Plate rifting starts | cf [41] |
22 | 22 | Ma | Miocene | Cocos Plate subduction into Chortis Block starts | inc. end of eastwards migration of Chortis Block; inc. possible uplift of Chortis Block; inc. formation of Bay of Honduras ie initial linking of northern and southern portions of the Maya Region; cf [42] |
The Maya Region is thought to fully or partially encompass at least fourteen geologic provinces. [43] [44] [note 16]
USGS No. | Name | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
5308 | Yucatan Platform | northern Lowlands | – |
6117 | Greater Antilles Deformed Belt | offshore Lowlands | – |
6120 | Cayman Trough | southern Lowlands | – |
6125 | Maya Mountains | central Lowlands | – |
5305 | Villahermosa Uplift | western Lowlands | – |
5306 | Macuspana Basin | western Lowlands | – |
5304 | Saline–Comalcalco Basin | western Lowlands | – |
5302 | Veracruz Basin | western Lowlands | – |
5303 | Tuxla Uplift | western Lowlands | – |
5311 | Chiapas Massif | western Lowlands | – |
5310 | Sierra Madre de Chiapas–Peten Foldbelt | southern Lowlands, northern Highlands | – |
6088 | Pacific Offshore Basin | Pacific | – |
6122 | Chiapas Massif–Nuclear Central America | Highlands | – |
6087 | Choco Pacific Basin | Highlands | – |
The Maya Region is believed to fully or partially comprehend at least five sedimentary basins. [45]
Evenick ID | Name | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
119 | Campeche | northern Lowlands | – |
519 | Peten–Corozal | central Lowlands | – |
757 | Yucatan | northern Lowlands | – |
647 | Sureste | western Lowlands | – |
– | Limon–Bocas del Toro | Pacific, southern Highlands | – |
The majority of the Maya Region sits on the Maya Block of the North American Plate, though its southernmost extremes extend beyond this crustal fragment into the neighbouring Chortis Block of the Caribbean Plate. [46] [47] [48] [note 19] The Region notably houses the active Motagua–Polochic Fault Zone in the south, part of the Central American Volcanic Front in the southwest, and further borders the Eastern Mexican Transform to the west. [49] [50] [51] [note 20]
The Maya Region's pre-Mesozoic crystalline basement is only exposed in the Mixtequita or Guichicovi Complex, the Chiapas Massif, the Altos Cuchumatanes, the Maya Mountains, and along the Chicxulub impact crater. [52] It is elsewhere blanketed by extensive Mesozoic sedimentary cover. [53] [54]
In the History of Mesoamerica, the stage known as the Paleo-Indian period is the era in the scheme of Mesoamerican chronology which begins with the very first indications of human habitation within the Mesoamerican region, and continues until the general onset of the development of agriculture and other proto-civilisation traits. The conclusion of this stage may be assigned to approximately 9000 BP, and the transition to the succeeding Archaic period is not a well-defined one.
The Maya Mountains are a mountain range located in Belize and eastern Guatemala, in Central America.
In a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. Before the conquest, this territory contained a number of competing Mesoamerican kingdoms, the majority of which were Maya. Many conquistadors viewed the Maya as "infidels" who needed to be forcefully converted and pacified, disregarding the achievements of their civilization. The first contact between the Maya and European explorers came in the early 16th century when a Spanish ship sailing from Panama to Santo Domingo was wrecked on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in 1511. Several Spanish expeditions followed in 1517 and 1519, making landfall on various parts of the Yucatán coast. The Spanish conquest of the Maya was a prolonged affair; the Maya kingdoms resisted integration into the Spanish Empire with such tenacity that their defeat took almost two centuries.
Río Azul is an archaeological site of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is the most important site in the Río Azul National Park in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala, close to the borders of Mexico and Belize. Río Azul is situated to the southeast of the Azul river and its apogee dates to the Early Classic period.
Kinal is a major pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petén Department of the modern-day Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The major occupational phase for the site dates from the Late Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, with evidence for a substantial and expansionary building program dating from the first half of the 8th century AD. Kinal was discovered in the 1960s by archaeologist Ian Graham while he was carrying out an archaeological survey of the region, although no excavations were undertaken at the site at that time.
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. The civilization is also noted for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system.
The Spanish conquest of the Maya was a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonisation of the Americas, in which the Spanish conquistadores and their allies gradually incorporated the territory of the Late Postclassic Maya states and polities into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Maya occupied the Maya Region, an area that is now part of the modern countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador; the conquest began in the early 16th century and is generally considered to have ended in 1697.
Potbelly sculptures are in-the-round sculptures of obese human figures carved from boulders. They are a distinctive element of the sculptural tradition in the southern Maya area of Mesoamerica. The precise purpose of potbelly sculptures is unknown, although they appear to have been the focus of public veneration and ritual directed by the ruling elite. Although this sculptural tradition is found within the southern Maya area, it has been recognized that the sculptures themselves are non-Maya.
Cuello is a Maya archaeological site in northern Belize. The site is that of a farming village with a long occupational history. It was originally dated to 2000 BC, but these dates have now been corrected and updated to around 1200 BC. Its inhabitants lived in pole-and-thatch houses that were built on top of low plaster-coated platforms. The site contains residential groups clustered around central patios. It also features the remains of a steam bath dating to approximately 900 BC, making it the oldest steam bath found to date in the Maya lowlands. Human burials have been associated with the residential structures; the oldest have no surviving burial relics, but from 900 BC onwards, they were accompanied by offerings of ceramic vessels.
Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall, sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief, although plain monuments are found throughout the Maya region. The sculpting of these monuments spread throughout the Maya area during the Classic Period, and these pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilization. The earliest dated stela to have been found in situ in the Maya lowlands was recovered from the great city of Tikal in Guatemala. During the Classic Period almost every Maya kingdom in the southern lowlands raised stelae in its ceremonial centre.
Maya cities were the centres of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. They served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide. Maya cities tended to be more dispersed than cities in other societies, even within Mesoamerica, as a result of adaptation to a lowland tropical environment that allowed food production amidst areas dedicated to other activities. They lacked the grid plans of the highland cities of central Mexico, such as Teotihuacán and Tenochtitlan. Maya kings ruled their kingdoms from palaces that were situated within the centre of their cities. Cities tended to be located in places that controlled trade routes or that could supply essential products. This allowed the elites that controlled trade to increase their wealth and status. Such cities were able to construct temples for public ceremonies, thus attracting further inhabitants to the city. Those cities that had favourable conditions for food production, combined with access to trade routes, were likely to develop into the capital cities of early Maya states.
The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods: the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods; these were preceded by the Archaic Period, which saw the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture. Modern scholars regard these periods as arbitrary divisions of chronology of the Maya civilization, rather than indicative of cultural evolution or decadence. Definitions of the start and end dates of period spans can vary by as much as a century, depending on the author. The Preclassic lasted from approximately 3000 BC to approximately 250 AD; this was followed by the Classic, from 250 AD to roughly 950 AD, then by the Postclassic, from 950 AD to the middle of the 16th century. Each period is further subdivided:
The Maya Block, also known as the Maya Terrane, Yucatan Block, or Yucatan–Chiapas Block, is a physiographic or geomorphic region and tectonic or crustal block in the southernmost portion of the North American Plate.
The Yucatán Platform or Yucatán Shelf is a geologic or physiographic province, and a continental and carbonate platform, in the Maya Block of the southernmost portion of the North American Plate. It comprises the Yucatán Peninsula and its continental shelf, located between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
The Preceramic Period of Belizean and Mesoamerican history began with the arrival of the first Palaeoindians during 20000 BC – 11000 BC, and ended with the Maya development of ceramics during 2000 BC – 900 BC.
The Preclassic or Formative Period of Belizean, Maya, and Mesoamerican history began with the Maya development of ceramics during 2000 BC – 900 BC, and ended with the advent of Mayan monumental inscriptions in 250 AD.
The Classic Period of Belizean, Mayan, and Mesoamerican history began with the advent of Mayan monumental inscriptions in 250 AD, and ended with the decline of these inscriptions during the Classic Mayan Collapse in 900 AD.
The periodisation of the history of Belize is the division of Belizean, Maya, and Mesoamerican history into named blocks of time, spanning the arrival of Palaeoindians to the present time. The pre-Columbian era is most often periodised by Mayanists, who often employ four or five periods to discuss history prior to the arrival of Spaniards. The Columbian era is most often periodised by historians, and less often by Mayanists, who often employ at least four periods to discuss history up to the present time.
The Maya Lowlands are the largest cultural and geographic, first order subdivision of the Maya Region, located in eastern Mesoamerica.