When the Maya kings of Tikal dedicated their first carved monuments in the third century A.D., inaugurating the Classic period of Maya history that lasted for six centuries and saw the rise of such famous cities as Palenque, Copan and Yaxchilan, Maya civilization was already nearly a millennium old. Its first cities, such as Nakbe and El Mirador, had some of the largest temples ever raised in Prehispanic America, while others such as Cival showed even earlier evidence of complex rituals. The reality of this Preclassic Maya civilization has been documented by scholars over the past three decades: what had been seen as an age of simple village farming, belatedly responding to the stimulus of more advanced peoples in highland Mesoamerica, is now know to have been the period when the Maya made themselves into one of the New World's most innovative societies. This book discusses the most recent advances in our knowledge of the Preclassic Maya and the emergence of their rainforest civilization, with new data on settlement, political organization, architecture, iconography and epigraphy supporting a contemporary theoretical perspective that challenges prior assumptions.

When the Maya kings of Tikal dedicated their first carved monuments in the third century A.D., inaugurating the Classic period of Maya history that lasted for six centuries and saw the rise of such famous cities as Palenque, Copan and Yaxchilan, Maya civilization was already nearly a millennium old. Its first cities, such as Nakbe and El Mirador, had some of the largest temples ever raised in Prehispanic America, while others such as Cival showed even earlier evidence of complex rituals. The reality of this Preclassic Maya civilization has been documented by scholars over the past three decades: what had been seen as an age of simple village farming, belatedly responding to the stimulus of more advanced peoples in highland Mesoamerica, is now know to have been the period when the Maya made themselves into one of the New World's most innovative societies. This book discusses the most recent advances in our knowledge of the Preclassic Maya and the emergence of their rainforest civilization, with new data on settlement, political organization, architecture, iconography and epigraphy supporting a contemporary theoretical perspective that challenges prior assumptions.

This story is based on the myths and legends of the early Maya people. The animal characters in the book represent the mythic figures in the Mayan story of creation. It is the story of The First Living Thing helping mankind come into being. The story of the mythic canoe crossing the river dates to the earliest Mayan history, as does the myth of Itzamna, represented by an iguana, pulling the first human beings from a cave. The drawings of the canoe used in the book are based on incision in a bone found beneath Temple I at Tikal, Guatemala. Examined for mythic and aesthetic rather than literal value, these forms represent heroic attributes, overcoming obstacles, and understanding the universe as the Maya saw it. As the oldest cosmology in the Americas, it is just now being fully uncovered and understood.

This piece of research seeks to highlight and test a series of models for social, political, economic and settlement change in southern Mesoamerica. Based on recent studies in the area (1995-97) Francisco Belli outlines the theoretical premises and methodology of his research, using GIS to elucidate changing patterns of population and settlement growth and decline, changing economic strategies, social organisation and administration. This volume contains material (settlements, site plans, stratigraphical information, details on settlement organisation, art, architecture and trade patterns) from the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods, used to test diffusionist versus indigenous models for the development of societies.

Esta historia se basa en los mitos y leyendas de los primeros mayas. Los personajes de los animales en el libro representan las figuras miticas de la historia maya de la creacion. Es la historia de la primera cosa viva ayudar a la humanidad llegue a ser. La historia de la mitica canoa cruzando el rio se remonta a la historia mas temprana maya, al igual que el mito de Itzamna, representado por una iguana, tirando de los primeros seres humanos de una cueva. Los dibujos de la canoa utilizada en el libro se basan en la incision en un hueso que se encuentra debajo del Templo I de Tikal, Guatemala. Examinado por el valor mitico y estetico, mas que literal, estas formas representan atributos heroicos, superacion de obstaculos y la comprension del universo como Maya vio. A medida que la cosmologia antigua de America, es solo ahora se esta totalmente descubierto y comprendido.