The Mayan civilization took place in an area the size of Switzerland, Italy and Austria put together- about 400 000 square-meters in the southern part of Meso-America, a territory including southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
In fact, this territory could be divided into three different areas, each one with its own particularity.

The southern zone, with the high lands of Guatemala, the eastern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas and the western parts of Honduras and El Salvador, is rich in conifers and cloaked with tropical rains from June to October; the climate is mainly temperate.The lands, frequently volcanic, and the extended valleys, facilitated the agriculture of corn, beans, pumpkins and above all, the precious cacao bean.

The central zone including Belize, the Guatemalan states of Izabal La Verapaz and Peten, the Sierra of Chiapas at the south, the plains of Campeche and Tabasco for the western part.These territories have a warm climate and are crossed by the river Usumacinta.It is a zone full of lagoons where rains tend to decrease when approaching the northern part and the rainforest disappears giving way to pine trees and the typical “chaparral”.

The northern zone is the Yucatan peninsula, a huge plain interrupted by few hills such as “los Puc”.The climate semi-arid to arid and the limestone ground, let you enjoy the beauty of the famous “cenotes”- sink holes, which form an underground system of caves filled with crystal clear water.

All of the areas have a noticeable climatic and environmental difference, with different vegetation and different life conditions.

Around AD 1000, the classic period of the Mayas, the big cities were slowly abandoned for mysterious reasons.This was the beginning of the end for the Mayas. Their capital moved from Chichen Itza to Mayapan.

The Mayan civilization ended around the mid 10th century, invaded by the Toltecs, considered as the destructors of the empire, even though they were the authors of the political unification of all the small Mayan villages.
Under this Toltec influence, the Mayas acquired not only religious and warlike clothes, characteristics of the Mexican societies, but also constituted a real urban civilization, with united political centers.

With the new empire, started the Maya-Toltec epoch, which is divided in 3 periods:

The first period, named Puuc (from the name of a type of ceramics and decoration), from 987 to 1194, is characterized by the hegemony of Chichen Itza, the constitution of the so-called league of Mayapan (city founded in 941 or 987), deed of Cocom, aristocrat clan of Yucatan.

The second period, lasted form 1194 to 1441 and saw the supremacy of Mayapan spreading out until all the centers of the northern Yucatan.

The third period started with the destruction of Mayapan and the progressive abandon of most of the cities of Yucatan.

The architectural activity experienced a standstill while the sculptural art went on ahead to the point ofreaching an abundance and a complexity so that we could talk about baroque mayan art: these stylistic characteristics are reflected also in the ceramic.

It was during the XV century that started the decadence of the Mayan empire. This time was touched by series of natural calamities; hurricanes, contagious sicknesses, smallpox and the arrival of the Spanish on the coasts of the Yucatan, for the first time, in 1518.

Even if the Spanish conquest had not occurred yet, the Mayans abandoned the old cities to retire in the jungle. That’s why this civilization didn’t accomplish more grandiose building sites although it still lives nowadays.

The population of Mayan origin, represent one of the main groups of Meso-America.