ABSTRACT
I ntricate calendars, great ceremonial centers and superb architecture, mysterious glyphs, and spectacular shamanistic rituals-the colorful Maya civilization fascinates archaeologist and layperson alike. Exotic, and until recently little understood, the Maya epitomize the ancient traditions of civilization in Central America. But how did Maya civilization begin? What were the origins of the spectacular pre-Columbian states of lowland and highland Mesoamerica? The nineteenth-century traveler John Lloyd Stephens wrote brilliantly of Maya cities in the 1840s; he set the stage for all subsequent fi eldwork with his statement that this great civilization had “a distinct, separate, indigenous existence; like the plants and fruits of the soil, indigenous” (Stephens, 1841, p. 112). No serious research since then has cast doubt on Stephens’s contention of over 150 years ago. Thus, to discover the origins of the Maya and other Mesoamerican civilizations, we must travel back nearly four millennia to the village farming communities that fl ourished in this region when Egyptian civilization was at its height and the Shang state was dominating northern China. This chapter describes the origins and growth of Maya and other lowland civilizations in Central America. Chapter 16 surveys the peoples of the nearby highlands, who interacted constantly with their lowland neighbors.
