what happened during the post classical mayan period

Post-classic Period (900 AD to 1500 AD)

• 925 AD - The city-state of Chichen Itza becomes the most powerful city-state in the region. It will rule for the next two hundred years.
• 1250 AD - After declining for years, Chichen Itza is abandoned.
• 1283 AD - The city-state of Mayapan becomes the capital city of the Maya civilization. ...
• 1441 AD - The people rebel against the rule of Mayapan. ...

Full Answer

What happened during the Classic period of the Maya?

What happened? The Maya Classic Period (c. 250–900 CE) was the “golden age” of the Maya Empire in Central or Meso-America (see map below). Agriculture flourished, resulting in the civilization reaching its peak population of up to 2 million people during this time.

What is the Post-Classic Mayan civilization?

The Post-Classic Mayan civilization is the beginning of a time when the Maya continued without their teachers, the evolved members of the Classic Maya. Fear set in after the departure of the Classic Maya and a period of regrouping took place.

What is the evidence for the decline of the Mayans?

A third piece of evidence of the progression of Maya decline, gathered by Ann Corinne Freter, Nancy Gonlin, and David Webster, uses a technique called obsidian hydration dating. The technique allowed them to map the spread and growth of settlements in the Copán Valley and estimate their populations.

What challenges did the Mayans of the Yucatan face?

The Mayans of the Yucatan, however, had some difficult challenges to overcome, namely switching from a rainforest environment to the much drier climate of the Yucatan. The Yucatan Mayans managed to switch their reliance on surface reservoirs of water to the use of groundwater resources such as the subterranean basins and sinkholes known as cenotes.

What is the post-classic period of the Mayan civilization?

The Classic period was from 200 to 900 AD, while the Post-Classic period lasted from 900 AD until the Spanish Conquest. The Classic period is considered by many to be the height of Maya civilization, while the Post-Classic period is a later resurgence of Maya culture.

What defines the Post-Classic period in Mesoamerica?

The Postclassic period is the time between the year 900 and the conquest of Mesoamérica by the Spaniards, which occurred between 1521 and 1697. It was a period in which military activity became of great importance. The political elites associated with the priestly class were relieved of power by groups of warriors.

Where did Mayan cities continue to prosper during the Post-Classic period?

Maya CivilizationQuestionAnswerWhat happened that marked the end of the Classic period of Mayan history?Maya had abandoned their large cities to the jungleWhere did Mayan cities continue to prosper during the Post-Classic period?In the highlands13 more rows

What is the meaning of post classical?

Definition of postclassical : of or relating to a period (as in art, literature, or civilization) following a classical one.

What are two of the cultural achievements that occurred during the Classic Period of Maya civilization?

CLASSIC PERIODdistinctive writing and calendric systems.polychrome ceramics.corbelled vault architecture.major public architecture with pyramids, palaces, ball courts.

What caused the end of the Mayan civilization?

Scholars have suggested a number of potential reasons for the downfall of Maya civilization in the southern lowlands, including overpopulation, environmental degradation, warfare, shifting trade routes and extended drought. It's likely that a complex combination of factors was behind the collapse.

What were the three periods of Mayan civilization What were the main characteristics of each period?

The three periods of Mayan civilization were Preclassic ,Classic,and Post classic. The main characteristics of each period were farmers.

What destroyed the Mayan empire?

Many reasons have been put forward as to why the Classic Maya culture collapsed but historians generally agree on the three most important or most likely: warfare between city-states, overpopulation, and drought.

What destroyed the Mayan language?

Tragically, the vast majority of Maya documents were destroyed by Spanish religious zealots. The Auto de Fe of Fray DeLanda is among the most famed. Credited with providing scraps of information on the Mayan language, in truth he is responsible for burning the majority of the known text at the time. The created a huge void of information about the language and practices of this advanced civilization. The Maya of the Yucatan struggled to maintain their life ways under Spanish rule. The Maya forest garden and milpa strategy, unfamiliar to and unappreciated by the Spanish, was not accepted.

What kingdom ruled the southern lowlands?

After the conquest of the northern Yucatan, the southern Maya Itza kingdom still dominated the southern lowlands, where Tikal once ruled. Hostile to their neighbors and ensconced in the Maya forest, they were able to maintain their independence for nearly two centuries after the Spanish arrived. Postclassic Mural.

What is the postclassic period?

The end of the Terminal Classic Period has been viewed as the death knell for the Maya civilization, and the Postclassic Period has traditionally been described as a militaristic, decadent, and degenerate phase in Maya history.

When did the Spanish conquer the Maya?

It was not until 1696 that the Spanish conquered the last of the independent Maya city-states, the Itza of Tayasal, the descendants of the ancient Maya realm. The Central Maya Lowlands, which today include most of Belize and the Peten of Guatemala, are still home to Maya who can trace their ancestry back into prehistory as attested by the patronyms of local villagers: Teck, Bacab, Mai, Cocom, and Panti to name a few.

When did the Spanish establish their base in Yucatan?

Once the Spanish established their base in northern Yucatan by 1546, they began to impose their views and customs upon the Maya. This was a time of great disruption. The Maya people suffered from

What happened?

The Maya Classic Period (c. 250–900 CE) was the “golden age” of the Maya Empire in Central or Meso-America (see map below).

How did deforestation affect droughts?

Intense deforestation likely exacerbated the natural droughts. Cleared land absorbs less solar radiation as opposed to forested land. This results in less water evaporating from the surface, reducing clouds and precipitation. Deforestation may have contributed to the decrease in precipitation by 5% to 15%. .

How many trees were burned to make lime plaster?

The Maya cleared large areas of land for agriculture, as well as for making lime plaster for temples and monuments. 20 trees had to be burned to heat enough limestone to make 1 square meter of lime plaster.

When did the Southern Lowlands become abandoned?

During the 8th and 9th centuries, cities in the southern lowlands were gradually abandoned one by one. By 900 CE, this region of the empire was almost completely abandoned and the Classic Period was brought to a close.

What were the major cities of the Mayan civilization?

Among the notable Mayan cities which came into being during the Pre-Classic period were Tikal , El Mirador and Nakbe . With the advent of the Mayan Classic period beginning in 250 A.D., a large number of Mayan cities rose ...

What was the most important city in the Mayan period?

and 1500 A.D., Mayan civilisation largely shifted to the northern lowlands. It was at this time that the later Mayan city of Chichen Itza rapidly grew in population. With the growth in population, the city became more prosperous and influential, becoming the most important Mayan city in the post-Classic period. However, the glory of this city was rather short-lived as it was abandoned sometime in the 11th century.

What was the Mayan civilization's major rival?

While Tikal was already a major power in the Mayan lowlands, the city of Calakmul emerged as a major rival during this period.

What was the post-classic period?

Post-Classic Period. With the fall of the Mayan civilisation in the southern lowlands, the golden phase of the Mayan civilisation came to an end. It is generally regarded as the end of the Mayan civilisation proper. However, this does mean that the civilisation altogether came to an end after this period.

Why did the Mayan civilization collapse?

This is the period of the rapid decline of the Mayan civilisation. To this day, historians have been unable to ascertain exactly how and why the Mayan civilisation collapsed in the 9th century A.D. Some have claimed that this was because of the steadily deteriorating environmental conditions. Others have theorised that an attack for another tribe or people from outside of the Mayan regions, such as the Toltecs, brought about the end of the civilisation. Whatever the reason, most Mayan centres in the southern lowlands rapidly declined and their populations eroded within a few decades.

How long have the Mayans been around?

The Mayans survived despite many radical changes to their society and culture, but remained under the yoke of the Spanish culture in the later centuries. Mayan Timeline Summary. Mayan civilisation came into being sometime in the 1st millennium B.C., although Mayan settlements date back to 1800 B.C.

What happened to the Mayan civilization in the 16th century?

During this period of conquest, many Mayan temples were demolished, the social life was disrupted and Mayan culture underwent rapid decline .

Why did the Mayans die in the 800s?

The tens of millions of Mayans alive in the 800s had exceeded the carrying capacity of even intensive agriculture. Drought, soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and deforestation led to malnutrition, starvation and disease. To the environmental factor, add constant warfare and loss of faith in ruling dynasties. While scholars cite no one principal reason for the collapse of the Mayan classic period, no doubt complex political, social and environmental factors led to its decline.

What was the late classic period?

Late Classic. The late classic period from 600 to 900 was a time of growth and development for some great Mayan city states and a time of deep decline for others. Tikal, for example, which had flourished and become quite powerful declined drastically a few hundred years later. Around 600, Teotihuacan was sacked and burned.

How did Teotihuacan influence Maya culture?

Trade with that city brought a new weapon, the atlatl or spear thrower. Teotihuacan also extended political power into the Peten and may even have installed a dynastic ruler in Tikal. Loading... Loading... City states of the early classic held ...

What cities were in the lowlands?

More city states developed in the lowlands including Palanque, Yaxchilan, Altar de Sacrificios, Copan and Quirigua. The northern lowlands saw the growth of Edzna, Ek Balam and Coba. All these cities traded with one another, although they also fought each other for control of trade. The great Mexican city of Teotihuacan influenced Maya culture ...

What were the causes of the decline of the Mayan civilization?

While scholars cite no one principal reason for the collapse of the Mayan classic period, no doubt complex political, social and environmental factors led to its decline.

What was the Mayan Classic era?

During the Mayan classic era, A.D. 250 to 900, millions of Maya lived in dozens of great city-states. The Mayan culture reached its zenith in culture, monumental architecture, great trading networks, the arts, mathematics and calendrics, astronomy and cosmology, engineering, a fully developed writing system, intensive agriculture ...

Where were the Mayan cities located?

During the early classic period, many Mayan cities developed in the southern lowlands, including Tikal in the Peten, Calakmul in Campeche and Caracol in Belize. Stone monuments called stela portray dynastic rulers with emblems of power.

What is the classic Maya collapse?

Guatemala. Petén. v. t. e. In archaeology, the classic Maya collapse is the decline of the Classic Maya civilization and the abandonment of Maya cities in the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries, at the end of the Classic Maya Period. At Ceibal, the Preclassic Maya experienced a similar collapse in ...

What is the collapse of the Maya civilization?

Classic Maya collapse. In archaeology, the classic Maya collapse is the decline of the Classic Maya civilization and the abandon ment of Maya cities in the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries, at the end of the Classic Maya Period. At Ceibal, the Preclassic Maya experienced a similar collapse in the 2nd century.

What is the theory of drought?

The drought theory holds that rapid climate change in the form of severe drought (a megadrought) brought about the Classic Maya collapse. Paleoclimatologists have discovered abundant evidence that prolonged droughts occurred in the Yucatán Peninsula and Petén Basin areas during the Terminal Classic.

What empire did Chichén Itzá build?

In the Post-Classic Period following the collapse, the state of Chichén Itzá built an empire that briefly united much of the Maya region, and centers such as Mayapán and Uxmal flourished, as did the Highland states of the Kʼicheʼ and Kaqchikel Maya.

How many years were Maya monuments built?

The Maya often recorded dates on monuments they built. Few dated monuments were being built circa 500 – around ten per year in 514, for example. The number steadily increased to twenty per year by 672 and forty by around 750.

Why do scholars dislike the term "collapse"?

Because parts of Maya civilization unambiguously continued, a number of scholars strongly dislike the term collapse. Regarding the proposed collapse, E. Wyllys Andrews IV went as far as to say, "in my belief no such thing happened.".

What is the technique used to map the spread and growth of settlements in the Copán Valley?

A third piece of evidence of the progression of Maya decline, gathered by Ann Corinne Freter, Nancy Gonlin, and David Webster, uses a technique called obsidian hydration dating. The technique allowed them to map the spread and growth of settlements in the Copán Valley and estimate their populations.

What is the post-classic Mayan civilization?

The Post-Classic Mayan civilization is the beginning of a time when the Maya continued without their teachers, the evolved members of the Classic Maya. Fear set in after the departure of the Classic Maya and a period of regrouping took place. Fear spawns superstition, distrust, war, and the need to control others.

When did the Toltecs come to the Yucatan Peninsula?

It appears the Toltecs dramatically changed the way of life for the Mayan civilization when they came into the Yucatan Peninsula area around A.D. 1,000. It's almost like they helped the Maya regroup...but at a price.

What was the congeniality of the Maya?

The congeniality of the Classic Maya was a thing of past. By the time the Spaniards arrived the Post-Classic Mayan civilization was in disarray. What’s interesting is Ah Xupan, a 12th century Mayan prophet predicted the disunity and infighting of this group of Maya.

When did the Mayapan fall?

It was located in the Yucatan Peninsula and was in power from about the late 1220s until 1440. The Mayapan fell in A.D. 1441 due to internal warfare, and the Yucatan was reduced to warring city states. The congeniality of the Classic Maya was a thing of past. By the time the Spaniards arrived the Post-Classic Mayan civilization was in disarray.

When fear sets in, love and respect disappears?

“Unfortunately, for an accurate chronological background, the Maya Long Count did not survive in any of the peripheral areas after the collapse of civilization in the central region.

What did the kings write on?

All was written on buildings, stelae, murals and vases. During the Post-Classic era, folded bark books called codices were invented and used to record this information as well.

Why did wars become frequent during the post-classic era?

Wars became frequent as the struggle for power began. Virtually, none of this existed during the Classic period. When building started again during the Post-Classic era, a shortened version of the Long Count dates was used.

What Happened?

How Is This Related to Climate?

Further Exploration

References and Additional Resources

Pre-Classic Period

Classic Period

Late Classic Period

Terminal Classic Period

Post-Classic Period

• With the fall of the Mayan civilisation in the southern lowlands, the golden phase of the Mayan civilisation came to an end. It is generally regarded as the end of the Mayan civilisation proper. However, this does mean that the civilisation altogether came to an end after this period. Rather, Mayan populations shifted mostly to northern lowlands an...

See more on mayansandtikal.com

Rise of Northern Lowlands

Arrival of The Spaniards

After The Spanish Conquest

Mayan Timeline Summary