However, historians and archaeologists debate whether the Mayans had some sort of regional power structure. At its peak, the Mayan civilization comprised at least forty cities the most important were Bonampek, Calakmul, Copán, Dos Pilas, Palenque, Río Bec, Tikal, and Uaxactún.Įven though they shared a common culture, the city-states remained autonomous, each having its own ruling dynasty at no time in Mayan history was there any unified political structure or single ruler. The Mayan cities did not define themselves so much in terms of territorial borders but more as hubs that were networked-both politically and economically-to one another. Cities were formed and became the political, cultural, and social focal points of the civilization.īy AD 250 Mayan civilization was organized into distinct city-states, not unlike those of the ancient Greeks. At the same time, systems of social and political organization began to develop, with the first dynasties established around 100 BC.

As Mayan agriculture became more sophisticated and trade networks expanded, communities flourished and populations grew. The preclassic period saw the establishment of agricultural settlements (as early as 1500 BC), the development of trade networks among regions, and the emergence of an identifiable Mayan culture. Archaeologists divide the history of the Mayan civilization into three periods: the preclassic (2000 BC–AD 250), the classic (250–900), and the postclassic (900–1500). The Mayans are described as a Mesoamerican civilization-that is, they existed before the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America in the sixteenth century. The Mayans were an indigenous people who occupied the areas of present-day southern Mexico (the Yucatán peninsula and the state of Chiapas), Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras and El Salvador. The king’s chief duties were religious and military. The king served as both the chief political authority and a semidivine figure. The Mayan civilization was organized as a network of city-states, with each state being ruled by a hereditary monarchy.

Maya civilization king