The Mayan empire flourished in
the southern regions from around 250 AD to 900 AD. The empire in the south
collapsed around 900 AD. No one knows the reason.
Scholars have suggested, among
other reasons, disease, political upheaval, overpopulation or drought. But
while the empire in the south waned, that in the north, especially in the
Yucatan, flourished until the Spanish conquests of the 16th century AD.
The Maya were very skilled
farmers and also created a very sophisticated written language; some think it
might have been the first written language native to the Americans.
The Maya also developed social
class system which was a well-ordered and carried on trade throughout a network
of cities that went as far south as Panama and as far north as Central Mexico.
Mathematicians, their number system included the concept of zero, an idea
unknown to the old Greeks, expert mathematicians themselves.
The Maya used their mathematical
knowledge along with celestial observations to finesse a calendar created by
the Olmec which is a culture from the Mexican Gulf Coast and to create
monuments to observe and commemorate movements of the moon, the sun, and Venus.
Spectacular examples of these
monuments can still be seen at Chichen Itza today.
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