The Maya civilization, now extinct, once stretched from the present Yucatan (south-eastern region of Mexico) to Honduras, passing through Guatemala and Belize. At the apogee, important cities stand out like Tikal, Piedras Negras in Guatemala, or Palenque and Chichén Itzá in Mexico.
Today, the beginning of the Mayan civilization is located around 2600 BC. Its apogee is reached towards the IIIrd century AD. Unlike its neighbor, and Andean, Inca, it does not constitute an empire in the sense in which we understand it, with only one sovereign at its head. In reality, the Mayan population is divided into several cities, each governed by its own hierarchy, reigning over a territory of variable size. The overall population was estimated at 20 (twenty) million people, a city like Tikal (Guatemala) had no less than 70,000 inhabitants. And all these cities did not automatically speak the same language.
In Maya society, we find the three orders: nobility, clergy and people. The nobility and the priests live in the city, which was also the religious center. The people, made of peasants, lived in the neighborhood. The basis of the economy was agriculture. Due to land requirements, they cleared much. The Mayas cultivated corn, cotton and cocoa. This last culture had taken on so much importance that it served as currency.
Because of the importance and the work involved in the construction of the buildings, it is assumed that the Mayans had slaves, prisoners from battles between the towns, and who themselves were helped by the peasants. It is assumed that there were, in addition to the architects, specialized craftsmen.
According to recent archaeological studies (soil analysis, in the form of cores, by thermoluminescence), it was shown that the decline of the Maya was due to a set of factors. The region of the empire, located in a tropical environment is unfortunately established on a karstic soil, therefore permeable to water, and therefore that does not hold it back. Outside, the Maya displayed treasures of engineering to retain water, and especially to face a dry season of seven months. In addition, the main crop is maium. And water is greedy in water.
And by the ninth century the region began to suffer from prolonged drought. Food became more scarce, and the towns waged war. Inexorably, the empire declined. The knowledge of astronomy (and the rest) was forgotten for the benefit of the art of war. When the Spaniard arrives in Maya, he encounters only natives who are ignorant of customs and ancestral knowledge.
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