The First People
Before there were people, Heart of Sky God tried to create humans out of mud, but they kept crumbling and softening.  When that failed, he used wood.  The wooden sculptures looked like people and talked like people, but they had nothing in their hearts or minds and did not remember Heart of Sky God.  Heart of Sky God then turned to Grandmother God for help.  Fox, coyote, parrot and crow brought yellow and white corn to Grandmother God, and she ground it nine times.  Using water and the staple food, Grandmother God created human beings.  There the history of Guatemala begins, at least according to the creation story as told in the Quiché Mayan book, Popol Vuh (1).

The first inhabitants of Central America set foot in what is now Guatemala as early as 18,000 BC, living as hunters and gatherers, moving from place to place in search of food and resources. 

Pollen samples from the Petén and Pacific coast indicate that by 3500 BC, the early inhabitants began maize cultivation, thus yielding a less transitory way of life, and by 2500 BC, small settlements began to emerge (2).

Pre-Classic Period
After the early development of civilizations in Mesoamerica, archeologists divide its history into three periods: Pre-Classic (2000 BC – 250 AD), Classic (250 – 900 AD) and Post Classic (900 – 1500 AD).

The communities were built around royal acropolises and great pyramid temples like those of Tikal and El Mirador.  The pyramid in El Mirador stands as the world’s largest pyramid at 2,800,000 square meters (2).  Other ceremonial structures include the giant stone heads found in Escuintla.  Archeologists believe that these Olmec-style structures indicate trade-induced Olmec influence in the Mayan culture.  These ceremonial sites and open public plazas served as town centers and gathering places for the people.  Near the ceremonial sites were ball courts, often in the shape of an “I” and enclosed by two-step walls leading to the ceremonial platforms or temples (3).    
 
The people worked as farmers, clearing vast plots of rain forest to grow corn, beans and other cropsand built extensive underground reservoirs for rainwater storage.  They were skilled in terrace farming, managing fallows and wild harvesting to obtain food (3).  Additionally, the Maya were skilled potters and weavers.  They cleared routes to manage extensive trade networks, and as cities grew during the Pre-Classic period, stucco-paved roads were constructed connecting the emerging cities and enhancing long-distance trade (4).

Classic Period
During the Classic period, Mayan civilization was at its peak with a detailed calendar system, significant scientific and mathematical discoveries (including the use of the zero), a writing system of symbols and glyphs used to express a variety of types of thought, and hierarchical societies with centralized governments (5).

The Mayan territories had clearly defined boundaries and were ruled by centralized governments that were headed by kings.  Occasionally the boundaries changed however because of warring neighbors.  Tikal was the major city in Guatemala during the Classic period (5).

In the continually-warring highlands of Guatemala, other nations (like the Quiché) built their cities in inaccessible locations, protected from enemies by ravines and dense forest, unlike the openness of Tikal and other cities in the east. (13)

The Mayan Collapse
The prosperity of the Maya lasted until 900 AD when therewas inexplicably a vast decline in construction and monumental inscriptions.  There is debate among scientists and archeologists as to what caused this decline.  Theoriesinclude drought-induced famine, over-population, foreign invasion, collapse of trade routes, epidemic disease and climate change (7,3).  The “Mayan Collapse” greatly affected the civilizations inthe central lowlands.  Cities like Tikal were abandoned and over time buried under the growth of the tropical vegetation (13). 

Post-Classic Period
As the golden age of the Maya ended, the fragmented city-states were targeted by invading forces like the Toltec people, who became the ruling elite of the Maya people in the Post-Classic period (12).

Despite the drastic decline, some Mayan civilizations in the Central Peten and the southern highlands survived the collapse of the Classic period in small numbers.  By 1250 AD, these small communities had regained strength in numbers and emerged as competing city-states. 

The Itza dominated the Petén Lakes region with their capital in Tayasal, near the modern city of Flores, Guatemala.  In the southern highlands between modern day Chichicastenango and Quetzaltenango, the Quiché communities survived and continued to flourish (15).

Works Cited