Maya

The Maya civilization arose in the Yucatan Peninsula of Central America, beginning around 1500 BCE. They were heavily influenced by the Olmec civilization of Mexico, which had developed a system of writing, a calendar, and a complex religion. Population growth was spurred by advances in growing and irrigating crops of corn, beans, squash, and peppers. The period from 300 to 900 CE is known as the Classic Period of the Maya culture, which featured the construction of very impressive cities, advanced writing, astronomy, arithmetic, a complex political system of competing city states, and the Maya ball game pok-a-tok. They were able to measure very precisely the orbits of planets. They went through cycles of building, tearing down, and rebuilding on the foundations of the past. Although their remaining structures are of bare stone today, they were apparently once painted in very bright colors. Beginning in 750 CE the Maya civilization went into decline for reasons not clear today. One opinion is that the population had expanded during a period of good climate, and trees had been widely removed to farm increasingly marginal land. Ecological changes led to massive crop failures, starvation, and war over decreasing food resources. By 830 construction had ceased and the cities were gradually abandoned. The Maya moved to smaller agricultural villages, and their great cities disappeared into the enveloping tropical forests.

From the game's History encyclopedia, AoE3: DE 100.19.18309.