Mayan Culture

Culture- The Mayan culture is believed to have begun around 300AD. Teotihucan, a nearby city in Central America, influenced the Mayan culture by trading with them and helping them begin to thrive. When Teotihucan collapsed, the Mayans showed signs of struggle because they Teotihucan civilization was like a piece of their culture. The classic Maya began to do really well in the “southern lowlands,” But then suddenly collapsed in around 800AD, and there are many reasons for this. These include; over-population, too much warfare, rebellion of the farmer/laborer class, or unexpected natural disasters. But different areas still were flourishing. Because the Maya didn’t want the rest of the civilization to fail, this is when they separated into city-states. Unlike the Aztecs who were ruled by one governing system, the Mayans were split up into individual city-states and because all these city states had similar ways of life and beliefs, they were all considered part of the Mayan civilization. The city-states were also the reason that the Spaniards were unable to conquer the Maya, and traces of Mayan culture still clearly remain in areas of Central America.