The Maya

More than 1,000 years before Europeans landed on the shores of the Americas, the Maya developed a science-based civilization in the almost total isolation of the tropical lands of the Yucatán Peninsula. The towering skylines of their magnificent high-rise cities loomed above the emerald rainforest. These architectural wonders, detailed with magnificently carved facades, were resplendent in artistic relief and hieroglyphic inscriptions. During the middle of the first millennium AD, these sophisticated urban centers were the largest cities on the planet (Figure 11). The sprawling Maya city-states were more than technologically dazzling examples of art and architecture conceived to overwhelm the observer with a sense of wonderment. These cities were centers of power, incubators of science and technology, seats of learning, and the hub of commercial operations that generated the wealth of the kingdom.

The embellished structures of these magnificent cities endured against all odds for more than a millennium after the demise of the Maya civilization (Figure 1-2). Resisting the degradation of the environment, the ravages of time, environmental disasters, and the prying roots of the encroaching jungle, the longevity of the structures is attributed to the innovative Maya technology employed in their construction. In addition to the advanced construction techniques preserving their cities, this brilliant society evolved scientific advances and technological methodologies that were a millennium in advance of similar discoveries by European sciences. Even more remarkable is that these advances in science and technology were created with little benefit of influence by outside cultures, unlike Europe.

Maya cities were planned and constructed on a grand scale with functional efficiency and artistic elegance. Each city, with its monumental palaces and temples, had a unique setting and was a triumph of grace and power. Maya architecture is unlike any other style in the world. Its inventive character of design is alien and bizarre, dissimilar to that of any other Mesoamerican culture and unlike any other world architectural style. What was the source of this unique Maya style? Like their advanced sciences and technology, their artistic style owes its inspiration to their veneration of the cosmos and its influence on the philosophy of the Maya civilization (Figure C1). The Maya civilization, one of history's longest-lived cultures, included more cities and pyramids than ancient Egypt. The Maya were governed by more than 50 independent city-states dispersed across the 125,000-square-mile area of the Maya world (Figure 1-3). Maya cities were the base of power for the elite class of royalty, scribes, scientists, intellectuals, and merchants, who energized the civilization for more than a millennium.

This was not a society that existed in the annals of lost prehistory, for which historical dating had to be performed by scientific data testing methods. Rather, the chronology of historical events has been determined with some exactitude by deciphering the written inscriptions and the accurate calendar system of the Maya. Their unique form of writing, once considered an unsolvable riddle, was undecipherable for a century after the rediscovery of the lost civilization. It did not become readable until the code was broken by brilliant epigraphers. The unfolding of the chronological events of their history, their epic adventures, and their scientific messages reads like an exciting historical novel. The thoughts, history, and accomplishments of this civilization became known to the world. Archaeologists have studied the abandoned cities and the inscribed art that was integrated into the facades of the Classic Period buildings. These inscriptions have provided abundant evidence of the accomplishments of this brilliant culture. Additionally, accomplishments of the Maya have been revealed through translations of their surviving books and other written documentation.

Though their achievements continue to fascinate the academic world, scholarly research devoted to the Maya has largely overlooked the technological achievements of Maya engineers. These technological achievements enabled the survival, health, and favorable lifestyles of the inhabitants who populated the world's densest urban centers. Technology enabled the survival and growth of Maya society in spite of their precarious tropical environment, one that had an inconstant supply of rainwater, poor soil conditions, and a lack of surface water. Maya engineers successfully developed efficient water-management systems and technologically advanced agriculture systems that overcame the shortfalls of their environment and enabled the prosperity of the society.

The Maya enjoyed the height of their golden age during the eighth and ninth centuries. Their Classic Period cities featured dramatic architecture, with high-rise pyramids smoothly coated in stucco and painted in brilliant colors laid out around grand plazas. The stepped pyramid structures topped by temples towered over art-adorned palaces, universities, ball courts, and public buildings. The grand Classic Period cities were purposely conceived to be awe-inspiring spectacles; the dazzling art and architecture was intended to impress all who viewed the array. These large city centers were planned urban spaces with nodes of artistically styled buildings connected by elevated paved roadways. Paved routes crossed the cityscape and extended out of the city into the hinterlands. This all-weather road system traversed the tangled and slippery jungle floor, smoothing the way for travelers. These roads served as the intercity transportation system required for trade and communication with other city-states. These Maya cities were centers of political, religious, educational, scientific, and business activities that managed the multi-faceted affairs of the city-state. For more than 1,000 years, the Maya intellectual hierarchy practiced an efficient management system that enhanced and maintained the wealth of the city-state and the quality of life in the sprawling urban centers.

Since the rediscovery of the Maya civilization in the 19th century, there has been great interest in the Maya culture. Their advanced levels of scientific disciplines, with achievements in astronomy, mathematics, calendrics and written languages have amazed the Western world. At the height of their civilization, their scientific and technological achievements were more advanced than any other culture on the planet. They have been compared to the Egyptians for their use of hieroglyphic characters in their writing, to the Greeks for their development of advanced sciences, to the Romans for construction of well-drained, paved highways, and to the Phoenicians for long-range trade in seagoing vessels. In...