A pre-Columbian ethnic group that occupied the territory of Mesoamerica (present-day Mexico and Central American countries such as Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala) is known as Mayans and was one of the most significant groups with regard to the cultural legacy of all pre-Columbian America. The Mayans, or the Mayan civilization, are remembered along with the Aztecs and the Incas (located in North and South America respectively) as one of the most powerful civilizations on the continent.
Although the Mayan civilization is often confused or assimilated to the Aztec civilization (perhaps because both are located in nearby regions), we can point to the first as a civilization that developed cultural issues such as art, architecture, culture at a much deeper level. language and writing, religion, astronomy and science. It is all these elements that make the Mayan civilization one of the most important today in terms of the legacy that many of the current populations of America possess.
The Mayans were a group of native people from the current Mesoamerican area who founded and inhabited numerous cities such as Mayapán, Toniná, Copán, Uxmal, Cobá, Tulum, Tikal, Piedras Negras, Pomoná and the famous Chichén Itzá where the incredible stepped pyramids, one of the most significant and recognizable features of all pre-Columbian civilizations. We consider that the Mayans managed to form a civilization due to the cultural imprint that this ethnic group left not only in their own towns but also in many others that were subsequently conquered by the Aztecs and later by the Spanish.
We can say that the Mayans were not characterized by developing a very powerful state as the Aztecs and Incas did with their empires. Mayan politics was clearly hierarchical, but as this was not a particularly conquering and warrior people, these elements never stood out as much as their impressive cultural achievements did, which would later be absorbed and assimilated by the different civilizations that conquered their territories.
