Region occupied by the Maya civilizations.
and Christian chronology), but before then they must already have spent many centuries in perfecting the material arts, and particularly the extra
ordinary astronomic and calendrical knowledge of which we find them pos
sessed even at that remote period. The great epoch of Maya history, the Old Empire, saw the building of Tikal,
Copan and many other magnificent and temple-adorned cities. The causes for the eventual breakup of the Old Empire are as yet unknown, but decay it did, and the formerly populous southern region reverted to jungle.
The Maya, however, had already been pushing northward into Yucatan,
and there, during the New Empire at such cities as Chichen Itza and Uxmal, they enjoyed a remarkable renaissance.
Ultimately they fell under dominance of the rising Nahuatl powers of Central Mexico and, at the time of the Con
quest, were once more undergoing a period of decadence.
What would have happened if the Spanish had not come; whether they would again have rallied and pushed
on to stillJfurther heights: or whether they, like the ancient Greeks, whom in many ways they so closely resembled, had finally expended all vital and crea
tive energy, are questions of more than merely academic interest, for the Maya still form the bulk of the population of Yucatan and of Guatemala, and the future of those countries therefore de
pends to a large degree upon the ability of these Indians to receive European
culture, to adapt it to their needs and to develop it in such a way as to permit them to play a worthy ro1e in the modern world.
Even so brief a resume indicates the importance of research upon the Maya. To the New World historian it is natu
rally of paramount significance, for the Maya were leaders in the cultural development of Middle America, influenc
ing directly or indirectly all other groups in that entire area. The Maya, too, were the only people who consist
ently and accurately recorded dates,
thus providing a starting point from which to work out the chronology of all the other high pre-Columbian cultures.
For the student of more general problems, the Maya also provide in
valuable data. Their history involves the rise, spread, efflorescence and de
cline of an agricultural civilization. It gives splendid opportunities for evalu
ating the influence of those racial and environmental factors which have been so potent in shaping the destinies of all peoples, but whose action has been so little understood.
Carnegie Institution of Washington entered the Maya field in 1914 when Dr. S. G. Morley was appointed Re
search Associate. The activities of Dr.
Morley and his staff fall into sequent periods of exploration and excavation.
and Christian chronology), but before then they must already have spent many centuries in perfecting the material arts, and particularly the extra
ordinary astronomic and calendrical knowledge of which we find them pos
sessed even at that remote period. The great epoch of Maya history, the Old Empire, saw the building of Tikal,
Copan and many other magnificent and temple-adorned cities. The causes for the eventual breakup of the Old Empire are as yet unknown, but decay it did, and the formerly populous southern region reverted to jungle.
The Maya, however, had already been pushing northward into Yucatan,
and there, during the New Empire at such cities as Chichen Itza and Uxmal, they enjoyed a remarkable renaissance.
Ultimately they fell under dominance of the rising Nahuatl powers of Central Mexico and, at the time of the Con
quest, were once more undergoing a period of decadence.
What would have happened if the Spanish had not come; whether they would again have rallied and pushed
on to stillJfurther heights: or whether they, like the ancient Greeks, whom in many ways they so closely resembled, had finally expended all vital and crea
tive energy, are questions of more than merely academic interest, for the Maya still form the bulk of the population of Yucatan and of Guatemala, and the future of those countries therefore de
pends to a large degree upon the ability of these Indians to receive European
culture, to adapt it to their needs and to develop it in such a way as to permit them to play a worthy ro1e in the modern world.
Even so brief a resume indicates the importance of research upon the Maya. To the New World historian it is natu
rally of paramount significance, for the Maya were leaders in the cultural development of Middle America, influenc
ing directly or indirectly all other groups in that entire area. The Maya, too, were the only people who consist
ently and accurately recorded dates,
thus providing a starting point from which to work out the chronology of all the other high pre-Columbian cultures.
For the student of more general problems, the Maya also provide in
valuable data. Their history involves the rise, spread, efflorescence and de
cline of an agricultural civilization. It gives splendid opportunities for evalu
ating the influence of those racial and environmental factors which have been so potent in shaping the destinies of all peoples, but whose action has been so little understood.
Carnegie Institution of Washington entered the Maya field in 1914 when Dr. S. G. Morley was appointed Re
search Associate. The activities of Dr.
Morley and his staff fall into sequent periods of exploration and excavation.