Classic Period – The Maya Civilization
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Also known as the Theocratic Period, it spans from approximately 320 to 987 CE. It is called this because it was initially believed that the priestly group exercised political power and that all economic, social, and cultural life revolved around religion.
The priestly groups played a significant role in the government of the Classic Maya city-states; however, they were never the rulers themselves. There was a noble class, and in any case, it was the warriors who held power. The image of the Maya as a society governed by priests was shattered when it was discovered that the cities were in constant warfare with each other.
Agriculture as a basic economic activity saw significant growth during this period. It was practiced by large groups of farmers, leading to a complex division of labor and consequently strong social stratification. Some of the well-known archaeological sites from this period include Tikal, Uaxactún, Piedras Negras, Cancuén, Caracol, Yaxhá, Naranjo, Xultún, Río Azul, Naachtún, Dos Pilas, Machaquilá, Aguateca, Comalcalco, Pomoná, Moral Reforma, Palenque, Yaxchilán, Kankí, Bonampak, Quiriguá, Tulum, Edzná, Oxkintok, Ceibal, Xamantún, Copán, San Andrés, Yaaxcanah, Cobá, El Cedral, Ichpaatún, Kantunilkín, Kuc (Chancah), Kucican, Tazumal, Las Moras, Mario Ancona, Muyil, Oxlakmul, Oxtancah, Oxhindzonot, Pasión de Cristo, Río Indio, San Antonio III, Nohkuo Punta Pájaros, San Manuel, San Miguel, San Claudio, Tortuguero, Punta Molas, Tamalcab, Templo de las Higueras, Tupack, Xlahpak, Tzibanché, and Kohunlich.
The two main centers in the Petén region are Uaxactún and Tikal. Uaxactún (600 BCE to 889 CE), located 25 kilometers north of Tikal (Guatemala), has the oldest known Maya temple in the region and was the first place where the Mayan false arch was observed. Tikal (800 BCE to 869 CE), nestled in the heart of the jungle, shows a significant Teotihuacan influence and reached a population of 100,000 at its peak, making it the largest city in the Americas during the Late Classic period. This center relied on a complex trade network and was strategically located between two river systems leading to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Copán, in Honduras, reached its splendor around 736 CE and was the scientific center of the Maya world, where astronomy was perfected to the point of determining the length of the tropical year, creating eclipse tables, and devising a calendar system more accurate than the one currently used.
Regarding Maya art, Eric Wolf in his work «Peoples and Cultures of Mesoamerica» mentions: «At the same time, new artistic expressions and symbols of power emerged from outside the Maya region and spread throughout this region, such as adorned ceremonial headdresses, ornate sandals, bracelets, beaded feathers, and the [manikin] scepter. Numerous representations of the Mexican deity Tláloc can be found in Copán. Could this be a political consolidation movement that originated outside the Maya region but made use of traditional Maya forms?…»
The city of Comalcalco in the state of Tabasco is the westernmost Maya city, and its main characteristic is that, due to the lack of stones in the region, its inhabitants built the buildings using fired bricks, held together with a mixture of stucco made from oyster shells. The region was the main producer of cacao, whose seeds were used as currency by different Mesoamerican cultures. In Comalcalco, various mask-like sculptures, stelae, a tomb with human remains, and the first Maya cemetery with a total of 116 funerary burials over a thousand years old have been found.
These burials were located in three earthen mounds, covering an area of 220 square meters, on the outskirts of the archaeological site.1. Also from this period are the cities of Calakmul in Campeche, where over 100 stelae have been found, and Cobá in Quintana Roo, which flourished in 623 CE and represents the oldest theocratic center in the northeast of the Yucatán Peninsula.
Cobá, situated on the shores of five lakes, among which the most important are Cobá and Macanxoc, developed in the early era. It was a small human settlement with a village-like social organization and agriculture as its main activity. As the population grew between 400 and 1000 CE, Cobá increased its economic and political power, becoming an important ceremonial center.
Archaeologist Antonio Benavides describes it in his article «Cobá» as follows: «In Cobá and its surroundings, thousands of people lived, most in precarious houses with stone foundations, mud walls, and palm leaf roofs. In the center of the city, near the temples, public buildings, and ball courts, the rulers lived in large stone houses decorated with stucco figures. There were also large plazas where people gathered on market days or during public celebrations.
Life in Cobá was very similar to that of other major pre-Hispanic cities such as Teotihuacán and Cholula in the central highlands or Monte Albán and El Tajín. There was a system of government with significant social differences. A minority group made up of priests, leaders, and high-ranking warriors organized and controlled most activities (religion, economy, politics, education, etc.) of a large population in such a way that goods and services were mostly enjoyed by them.»
This important center covered a total area of 100 square kilometers, with its core occupying around two square kilometers. It was connected to the region through a series of roads that aimed to ensure economic and political control of the territory, as well as serve as excellent means of communication. The construction of these roads began around 600 to 800 CE, approximately.
It is also the time when numerous stelae are carved and urban growth is evident in the construction – apart from the core – of three groups of ceremonial buildings: Nohoch Mul, Chumuc Mul, and Macanxoc. The population reached 70,000 inhabitants at that time, and by the year 1000 CE, it controlled the trade route along the eastern coast and the central and northern parts of the Yucatán Peninsula.
However, Cobá was not located on the coast but rather inland, about 50 kilometers northeast of Tulum. It needed to control, supply, and protect a port located on the trade route towards Honduras, the port of Xel-Há, described by archaeologist Fernando Robles in his work «Xel-Há, Port of Cobá»: «Xel-Há was situated at a critical point of the trade route, as it was where the overland and maritime parts converged. Goods from Petén and Belize arrived at Xel-Há via the maritime route, while those from the northwest of Yucatán arrived via Cobá.»
This transitional zone, combined with its geographical features (the inlet, its location on the peninsula, etc.), must have made Xel-Há a kind of ‘free port’ […] Based on the archaeological evidence we have, as well as its morphological and geographical qualities, we assume that Xel-Há must have played a role, if not equal, then similar to that of a trading port associated with the commercial emporium of Cobá.»
The Maya civilization had centers like Palenque, nestled in the jungles of Chiapas, which reached its peak between 695 and 799 CE, as well as the centers of Yaxchilán, Bonampak, and Piedras Negras. It is in this region where we find the earliest indications of warfare among the Maya: there are representations that depict warriors, battles, and raids to capture prisoners. Becán, located in Campeche, is an example of a fortified Maya city surrounded by a dry moat.
Before concluding the theocratic period, it is important to highlight the close and enduring relationship between the Maya region and central Mexico, especially with Teotihuacán, from the 5th to the 7th century. Teotihuacán controlled the Maya centers of this period through war and political dominance, but above all through cultural influences and access to a range of natural resources, such as cacao, which were essential commodities within the trade networks.
Initially, it was inferred that the Maya culture absorbed Teotihuacán influence and continued its own development. Subsequently, evidence found in Tikal and Kaminaljuyú was analyzed, where certain buildings and stelae suggest warfare between Teotihuacanos and Maya, demonstrating the power held by warriors during this period. We can assert that the dramatic and incomprehensible disintegration of these powerful ceremonial centers may be intimately linked to the fall of Teotihuacán itself.
Many hypotheses have been proposed about the «Maya collapse,» which refers to the decline and disappearance of the theocratic Maya centers, whose order began to crumble between 750 and 900 CE. One theory suggests an ecological collapse in the region due to the destruction of the rainforest caused by the agricultural systems used by the Maya (slash-and-burn farming), while another theory emphasizes the excessive population growth that exerted too much pressure on land and food production. These hypotheses are likely true, although they are not sufficient to explain the decline of the theocratic centers.
Internal contradictions within the theocratic society may have also contributed. Power and authority were in the hands of a group of nobles and priests who imposed heavy tribute burdens on the people in terms of labor and goods. As a result, the population may have risen up in a bloody rebellion or mass emigrated to other lands. Additionally, Teotihuacán, which was plundered and reduced to ashes by unknown forces between 700 and 750 CE, ceased to exert its influence in the Maya area. Its economic and cultural prosperity came to an abrupt halt, making way for Xochicalco and later the Toltecs, who dominated the Valley of Mexico. Within 100 years of Teotihuacán’s destruction, the Maya centers entered a crisis, depopulated, and their cities were overrun by the jungle.
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