Some of the Ceremonial centers Mayas Main are Cival, Blue River, Coba, Caracol, El Pilar and Motul de San José, among others.
The Mayan civilization Was a culture that flourished in the region of Mesoamerica With about 8 million inhabitants. Its settlements were characterized by great pyramids and platforms made of earth and stone.
The Coba Temple is one of the main Mayan ceremonial centers.
Ceremonial sites were built and maintained by farmers' populations. These cities were able to build temples for the public ceremonies that in turn attracted more inhabitants.
The 15 most important Mayan temples
1- Cival
Cival is a Mayan site located in the modern department of Petén in Guatemala. The site flourished from the 6th century to the 1st century BC, during the preclassic period.
At the time it hosted up to 10,000 people. The site has stepped pyramids and squares arranged to visualize astronomical phenomena.
2- Ceibal
El Ceibal is a Maya site located in the modern department of Peten in Guatemala. This was occupied in the preclassic period until the Classic Terminal period, between 400 A.C. And 600 D.C.
Its estimated population ranged from 8000 to 10,000 inhabitants. The priests-kings and nobility inhabited the main ceremonial center and the common people occupied the spaces in the periphery of this one.
3- Blue River
Río Azul is a Mayan site located in the modern department of Peten in Guatemala. This center flourished during the late preclassic period between 350 A.C. And 250 D.C.
Its population is estimated at 3,500 inhabitants. This city was later dominated by Tikal and Teotihuacán as a commercial route to the Caribbean Sea.
4- Snail
Caracol is a Mayan site located in the trendy Cayo District of Belize. This center flourished in 636 AD. Where a massive construction of buildings is dated.
Caracol houses 53 monuments of gravel and more than 250 tombs and 200 catacombs. For the early classic period, this was part of an extensive network of trade routes. The central square has temples on all three sides.
5- Coba
Coba is a Mayan site located in the modern state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
This center comprises one of the most complex road networks in the Mayan world. In its staggered temples there are stelae that document the ceremonial life and the most important events of its flowering in the late classical period.
6- Copan
Copán is a Mayan site located in the modern department of Copán in Honduras. This was considered like capital city of one of the kingdoms of the classic period between centuries V and IX A.C. The complex has stepped pyramids that juxtapose around a central plaza.
7- Calakmul
Calakmuk is a Mayan site located in the state of Campeche in Mexico. This complex was considered as one of the most powerful cities that existed in the Mayan world during the classic period.
It is estimated that its population reached about 50,000 people. At present, about 6,750 structures have been identified, among which the great pyramid stands out. It rises over 45 meters, making it one of the highest Mayan pyramids.
8- El Pilar
El Pilar is a Mayan site located on a portion of the border between Belize and Guatemala, 12 kilometers from San Ignacio.
This place is particularly known for the amount of water tributaries surrounding the site, which is not common among settlements of its type. It has about 25 squares and hundreds of other buildings.
9- Motul de San José
The Motul de San José is a Maya site located in the modern department of Peten in Guatemala. This was a medium ceremonial center that flourished during the late classical period, between 650 and 950 BC.
At present, about 230 structures have been counted in an estimated area of 4.18 square kilometers. The ceremonial center of the city covers an area in which 6 stelae, 33 plazas and several temples and areas of nobility are identified.
10- Quirigua
Quiriguá is a Mayan site located in the department of Izabal in Guatemala. It is a site of medium extension that flourished in the classic period between 200 to 900 BC.
This is located at the junction of several of the most important trade routes in the region. The ceremonial center is distributed around three squares. The Great Square reaches 325 meters long, the largest of the entire Mayan region.
11- Tikal
Tikal is a Mayan site located in the modern department of Peten in Guatemala. The site was originally believed to be called Yax Mutal and was the capital of one of the most powerful Mayan kingdoms.
Tikal reached its peak during the classic period between 200 to 900 BC. There is evidence that Tikal came to conquer Teotihuacan in the fourth century BC.
Many of the surviving elements today include a 70-meter high tower, large royal palaces, and a number of pyramids, palaces, residences, administrative buildings, platforms and stelae. In total there are about 3,000 structures in an area of 16 square kilometers.
12- Sayil
Sayil is a Mayan site located in the modern state of Yucatan in Mexico. This city flourished in a short time of the classic terminal period.
This was a city ruled by a local dynasty with lineages of nobility. It is believed that its population was composed of 10,000 people in the city and 5,000 to 7,000 in its periphery.
13- Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo is a Mayan site located in the modern department of Chimaltenango in Guatemala. At present the archaeological site comprises 120 structures including temples and palaces.
14- Q'umarkaj
Q'uumarkaj or Utatlán is a Mayan site located in the modern department of El Quiché in Guatemala. This site is known to be one of the Mayan capitals of the postclassic period.
The largest structures were located around a square. These include Tohil Temple, Jakawitz Temple and Q'uq'umatz Temple.
15- Santa Rita
Santa Rita is a Mayan site located in Corozal, Belize. It is believed that it was originally known as Chetumal. For the postclassic period, the city reached its largest number of inhabitants with 6,900 people.
References
- Canadian Museum of History. Maya civilization. [Online] [Quote on: April 22, 2017.] Retrieved from historymuseum.ca.
- Mayan Eb Quest. The New World: Mayan Civilization. [Online] [Quoted on: April 19, 2017.] Retrieved from mod3mayanwebquest.weebly.com.
- Jarus, Owen. Live Science. Tikal: Capital of Maya Civilization. [Online] [Quoted on: April 19, 2017.] Retrieved from livescience.com.
- Dumoiis, Luis. Mexconnect. The Maya civilization, cities of the Maya. [Online] [Quoted on: April 22, 2019.] Retrieved from mexconnect.com.
- Avicenna, Yazid. Maya Ceremonial Centers. [Online] September 24, 2008. [Quoted on: April 22, 2017.] Retrieved from ezinearticles.com.