The Maya

The Maya civilization is a historical Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, its spectacular art and monumental architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. Many of these accomplishments are particularly noted from the Maya florescence during what in Mesoamerican chronology is termed the Classic period (ca. 250 to 900), however these developments are also a feature of the preceding Preclassic (or Formative) period, and were continued on into the succeeding Postclassic. At its zenith it was one of the most densely populated and culturally dynamic societies in the world. The area of the Maya civilization extended throughout the northern Central American region which includes the present-day nations of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras and El Salvador, as well as the southern Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán.