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Paleoclimatology (thesaurus)

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Concept information

Preferred term

Maya  

Definition

  • The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity (8000–2000 BC) to the early modern period (AD 1511–1697). It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. The civilization is also noted for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in the Maya Region, an area that today comprises southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. It includes the northern lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula and the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre, the Mexican state of Chiapas, southern Guatemala, El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain. Today, their descendants, known collectively as the Maya, number well over 6 million individuals, speak more than twenty-eight surviving Mayan languages, and reside in nearly the same area as their ancestors. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization)

Broader concept

Entry terms

  • Maya civilization

In other languages

  • French

  • civilisation Maya

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-ZS8B2M90-V

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