The Mayan
Farther south of the Olmec was a group called
the Mayas. Mesoamerica had three major time periods:preclassic (2000 bc-ad
300), classic (300-900), and postclassic(900-1500). The postclassic period
in Yucatan was marked by the invasion of the Toltecs from Central Mexico
and the establishment of their control Chichen Itza. Pyramids and temples
were built in more than 40 cities, each with a population of about 20,000
people.
Indian corn, or maize was domesticated from
a wild grass in Central Mexico about 7,000 years ago. They would clear
the cornfield by cutting bushes, usually near the end of the rainy season,
allowing the piled bush to dry under the hot sun of the season. Then the
wood was burned and the ashes were scattered among the stumps. a mattock
of stone or wood was used to scoop the earth into a hummock and a
fire-hardened pointed stick was poked in the hole for the seed.
The Spanish conquest by Francisco, de Montejo
completed the downfall of the Mayan civilization in 1542. Today more than
2 million Mayan Indians live in nothern Yucatan and highland Guatemala
in a style similar to their ancestors.
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