MayaWhen the Spanish began arriving in Mexico and Central America in the early 15th century, one of the many civilizations they found was the Maya. The Maya, based on the Olmec culture, were found in present-day Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, southern Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Although they had many similarities, the Maya were separated by linguistic differences. For this reason they were organized into city-states. Since there was no single city-state powerful enough to impose a political structure, the period from 200 AD to the arrival of the Spanish was characterized by the struggle between rival kingdoms for dominance. The Mayan architectural achievements were remarkable, given the difficulties encountered. by fragile soil, dense forest and a harsh tropical climate. During the Classic period (250-900 AD), the largest Maya cities had populations of over 50,000 people. These high populations required them to practice more intensive agriculture, instead of the typical slash and burn. Classic period cities had visually dense neighborhoods dominated by stunning architecture. Larger cities had numerous tall pyramids, ceremonial platforms, and palaces built on platforms or mounds. The Maya have been called the “Greeks of the New World” because of their intellectual achievements. They were the most advanced in writing, mathematics, architecture and astronomy of all Indian civilizations. In mathematics, the Maya developed a system based on three symbols: a dot, a bar and a shell. The dot represented 1, the bar 5, and the shell 0. The Maya used the concept of 0, 1200 years before anyone else in the Old World. Their number system was based on 20 and the value increased from bottom to top. The Mayan elite developed a complicated calendar system. There are two main cycles in their calendar; one was made up of 260 days and the other 365. Each day is named after both the 260-day and 365-day calendars. For this reason the name of each complete day could only repeat every 18,980 days or once every 52 years. The Maya discovered metallurgy only at the end of the Classic period and used it only to produce jewelry and decorations for the elite. The artists and their many assistants cut and filled the stones used for palaces, pyramids and dwellings, aided only by levers and stone tools. Each wave of construction represented the mobilization of thousands of workers.