Maya Civilization

The Maya civilization developed over the area of that is now southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western parts of El Salvador and Honduras. The Maya started using hieroglyphic writing as early as the 3^rd century BC. Throughout their history, the Maya have never been united under one center of power. There were many independent and rival city-states—same as in ancient Greece—linked by complex trading network. In the 9^th century, there was a widespread political and economic collapse in the central Maya region, which resulted in the collapse of cities and population shift to other regions, mainly to the north. At a time when new centers of power were gaining strength in the northern Yucatan, the Spaniards arrived. Beginning in 1519, they started the brutal colonization of Mesoamerica, but it was not until 1697 when the fall of the last city of Nojpetén marked the end of Maya civilization