So-called
preclassical Mayan period, with the development of independent
city states. "Slash and burn" method of agriculture
is used (little different from the methods still used by farmers
of the jungle regions of Central America to this day).
By 200 AD, historians call the next stage the "classical
period" of Maya culture, which reached its highest point
in the area of South Mexico-Belize-Guatemala. Tikal was the
most important Maya centre.
Maya society was stratified or "layered," which means
there were different classes of people. At the top was the priest-king.
Below him were the rest of the priests (who were also skilled
astronomers), followed by the nobles. Next came the artisans
and crafts people, headed by the architects, and traders. Most
numerous were the peasant farmers, and at the very bottom were
the slaves. There was also a class of warriors who were considered
as important as nobles during war time, but during peace ranked
with the artisans.
Caracol was quite different from other Lowland Maya cities.
It was laid out on a radial plan much like Paris or Washington,
D.C. Luxury goods, such as jadeite pendants, eccentrically shaped
obsidian objects, and exotic shells, only found in the temple
areas of other sites, were found throughout the city. Vaulted
masonry tombs, traditionally believed to have been reserved
for royalty, were discovered not only in temples and pyramids,
but also in humble residential units. The distribution of vaulted
masonry tombs and the presence of luxury items in the simplest
residential units suggest that the people here were somehow
sharing the wealth. Any gap in quality of life that may have
existed between elites and commoners rapidly closed as a sizeable
middle class developed. It was this social cohesion co-operation
that allowed the community to become one of the most powerful
and prosperous Lowland Maya cities during the Classic Period.
25
years ago / 50 years ago
/ 80 years ago / 125
years ago / 150 years ago
250 years ago / 400
years ago / 700 years ago
/ 1,200 years ago
1,500 years ago / 2,000
years ago / 4,000
years ago / 10,000 years
ago
