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Never
a single empire, the Maya raised dozens of great centers in present-day
Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras,Peru and E1 Salvador. Spreading across
some 100,000 square miles, the Maya lowlands flourished during the Late
Classic period, A.D. 600-900.. The cities were supplied by farmers practicing
complex agricultural techniques and by extensive trade networks. Goods were
transported by canoe and by bearers on packed-dirt paths or sometimes on
raised roads. Total population may have numbered 12 to 16 million. Major
cities held sway over neighbors with whom they shared architecture and ceramic
styles. The regional boundaries are based on the estimates of city size
and influence. Corridors with no dense settlement fall between assumed boundaries,
line buffer zones. |
