Mayan Culture paper

Today, Mayan peoples are concentrated in Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize. The Mayas are said to occupy the largest sub-region in Mesoamerica with varying topography; from the mountains of the Sierra Madre to the semi-arid plains of northern Yucatan Peninsular. Topographically, the Mayan area is divided into three distinctive geographical zones. According to Michael Coe:

“The Maya area is generally divided into three loosely defined zones: the southern Maya highlands, the southern (or central) Maya lowlands, and the northern Maya lowlands. The southern Maya highlands include all of elevated terrain in Guatemala and the Chiapas highlands. The southern lowlands lie just north of the highlands, and incorporate the Peten of the Mexican states of Campeche and Quintana Roo and northern Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador. The northern lowlands cover the remainder of the Yucat?n Peninsula, including the Puuc hills” (Coe, 1999, p31).

In line with other great civilizations, the Mayans speak several dialects which are derived from the same linguistic roots. According to Rebecca Brown:

“Like the nations of Western Europe, the Maya speak not one language but a group of related languages. According to a well known theory, the two million Maya speakers of today all descended from a tribe that lived in the mountains of Western Guatemala some four thousand years ago. Over the centuries small groups of people broke away and gradually developed their own way of speaking” (Brown, Rebecca, 1996)

Hence, up till today different Mayan population groups in Central and South America, speak slightly different dialects, but they generally understand one another.

Since the Post Classical period of their history, and even up till today, the Mayans have always lived in small settlements. When the Spanish Conquistadores arrived, they found the Mayans living in small communities. According to Michael Coe: