MayansWhen the Spanish began arriving in Mexico and Central America in the early 15th century, one of the many civilizations they discovered was that of the Mayans. The Maya, building on Olmec culture, were present today in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, southern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. Although they had many similarities, the Mayans were separated by linguistic differences. For this reason, they were organized into city-states. Since no single city-state existed powerful enough to impose a political structure, the period from 200 AD until the arrival of the Spanish was characterized by the struggle of rival kingdoms for dominance. The Mayan architectural achievements were remarkable, considering the difficulties encountered. due to fragile soil, dense forest and harsh tropical climate. During the Classic period (250-900 AD), the largest Maya cities had populations of more than 50,000. These high populations forced them to practice more intensive agriculture, instead of the typical slash-and-burn cultivation. Classic period cities had visually dense neighborhoods dominated by extraordinary architecture. Large cities had many tall pyramids, ceremonial platforms, and palaces built on platforms or mounds. The Mayans were called the “Greeks of the New World” because of their intellectual achievements. They were the most advanced in writing, mathematics, architecture and astronomy of all Indian civilizations. In mathematics, the Mayans developed a system based on three symbols: a dot, a bar and a shell. The dot represented 1, the bar 5, and the shell 0. The Mayans used the concept of 0, 1,200 years before anyone in the Old World. Their number system was based on 20 and the value increased from low to high. The Mayan elite developed a complicated calendar system. There are two main cycles in their calendar; one consisted of 260 days and the other of 365 days. Each day is named from the 260 and 365 day calendars. For this reason, the name of each full day could only be repeated every 18,980 days or once every 52 years. The Maya did not discover metallurgy until late in the Classic period and used it only to produce jewelry and decorations for the elite. Artists and their many assistants cut and filled the stones used for palaces, pyramids, and dwellings, aided only by levers and stone tools. Each wave of construction represented the mobilization of thousands of workers.