How the periods are defined
Archaeologists divide Maya history into three main periods, Preclassic (also called Formative), Classic and Postclassic, and subdivide each into early, middle, late and sometimes terminal phases. These are modern labels, not names the Maya used, and the boundaries are approximate. They also vary by region: a northern city might enter a new phase decades or centuries before or after a southern one. Dates come from radiocarbon dating of organic material, from pottery sequences and, for the Classic period, from inscribed calendar dates that can be matched to the Christian calendar. Most of the dates below are therefore rounded.
At a glance
| Period | Approximate dates | Main features |
|---|---|---|
| Early Preclassic | about 2000 to 1000 BCE | Farming villages and early pottery |
| Middle Preclassic | about 1000 to 400 BCE | Larger centres and monumental platforms |
| Late Preclassic | about 400 BCE to 250 CE | Cities such as El Mirador, royal imagery, early writing |
| Early Classic | about 250 to 600 CE | Dynastic kingdoms; Tikal and Calakmul emerge as leaders |
| Late Classic | about 600 to 800 CE | Peak population and building; Palenque, Copan, Caracol |
| Terminal Classic | about 800 to 1000 CE | Southern cities fail; northern cities such as Chichen Itza flourish |
| Postclassic | about 1000 to 1500s CE | Coastal and highland kingdoms, Mayapan, then Spanish contact |
Preclassic: villages and the first monuments
Between about 2000 and 1000 BCE, settled farming communities appeared in the Maya area, growing maize and other crops and making pottery. The Olmec civilization on the Gulf coast was developing at about the same time, and the two regions were in contact.
In the Middle Preclassic, from about 1000 BCE, some sites started to build large platforms. Recent aerial survey has identified a very large ceremonial platform at Aguada Fenix in Tabasco, Mexico, dated to the early part of this period. Centres in the Petén, such as Nakbe, show growing scale in the following centuries.
The Late Preclassic, from about 400 BCE, saw the rise of El Mirador in northern Guatemala. Its huge platforms and temple-pyramids, including the Danta complex, make it one of the largest early Maya cities. At San Bartolo, painted murals dated to roughly 100 BCE show scenes from Maya creation myth with a maize deity, and the site also has some of the earliest known Maya writing. El Mirador and several neighbours declined in the early centuries CE; the reasons are debated, and environmental stress is one of the explanations proposed.
Early Classic: dynasties and long-distance links
The Classic period is conventionally dated from about 250 CE, when dated monuments become common in the lowlands. The earliest Long Count date at Tikal corresponds to 292 CE. In 378 CE, a figure linked with Teotihuacan arrived at Tikal, and Tikal rose. Copan’s dynasty traditionally began with a founder, K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’, around 426 CE. Calakmul’s Kaanul snake dynasty became Tikal’s main rival, and in 562 CE a coalition defeated Tikal.
Late Classic: the peak
From about 600 CE, populations and building reached their peak in the southern lowlands. Kings at Palenque, Calakmul, Tikal, Copan, Yaxchilan and Caracol erected carved stelae and elaborate palaces. In 695 CE Tikal defeated Calakmul, and a century of vigorous construction followed. Palenque’s K’inich Janaab Pakal reigned from 615 to 683 CE. Copan’s king K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil, known as 18 Rabbit, reigned from about 695 to 738 CE and was captured and killed by the ruler of nearby Quirigua in 738. Bonampak’s famous wall paintings date to around the late eighth century.
Terminal Classic: change and relocation
After about 800 CE, many southern cities stopped erecting dated monuments. A late dated inscription at Tonina corresponds to about 909 CE, among the last Long Count dates in the southern lowlands. Meanwhile, northern cities such as Uxmal and Chichen Itza grew. The southern changes are the subject of the Classic Maya collapse debate, in which drought, war and social strain are all discussed.
Postclassic: new centres and the Spanish arrival
Chichen Itza dominated much of the northern peninsula until roughly the eleventh century or later, with its decline dated variously. Mayapan became a leading city around the early thirteenth century and lost its position in the mid-fifteenth. The Maya of the highlands, such as the K’iche’ and Kaqchikel, and the Itza of the Petén lakes also formed kingdoms. The Dresden Codex is thought to be a Postclassic copy of older material.
Spanish ships reached Yucatan in 1517. The Spanish conquest of Yucatan took far longer than the conquest of central Mexico: Merida was founded in 1542, and Nojpeten, the last major independent Maya capital, fell in 1697.
Reading the dates with care
Because the Long Count lets Maya texts carry exact dates, the Classic period is better dated than most ancient periods. Even so, the Maya calendar system must be correlated with the Christian calendar using a constant, and the widely used correlation is well supported, though older proposals would have shifted every date by days or even centuries. Earlier periods rely on radiocarbon dates with margins of error, and the span of any period is a convention. A timeline like this is best treated as a framework rather than a precise ledger.