Most historians claim the Mayas are decedents of the Olmeca, and that at
some point close to the year 2000 BC a group of these Olmecas settled
near what is now known as Yucatán. There they flourished until the
year 1697 AD when the last of the Mayas where eliminated by the Spanish
soldiers.
In the interval of time between the two dates the Mayas filled the region
with their  stone
built cities, their towering pyramids (sometimes reaching over 70 meters),
and their sackbe paths, which intercommunicated many of their cities.
They developed writing and numeric systems, they studied the stars and came
up with an advanced calendar system that some consider superior to our own.
The Mayas where without a doubt one of the most important cultures of pre-Hispanic
America, their numerous cities stretched from the coasts of Yucatán
down to Guatemala and Chiapas. At one point in time there where over 3 million
Mayas living in this area, but by the time the Europeans came, their numbers
had reduced drastically due to wars and calamities.
Tragically there is much still unknown about the Mayas because most of their
books and writings where burned by Fray Diego de Landa during the conquest.
Most of what we now know about them has been extracted from the three codices
that still remain.
This website is intended to help you learn a little about this amazing culture
and to form a web community in which everyone interested can share their
thoughts, questions, and knowledge. After doing some research in the site
you can go down to the "interactive" section and take the quiz
to see how much your knowledge about the Mayas has grown.
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