The Maya thrived in Central America thousands of years ago. Anthropologists and archaeologists thought Maya culture originated in the northern reaches of what is now Guatemala about 600 BCE, and migrated north to the Yucatan Peninsula of present-day Mexico beginning around 700 CE.
Throughout the film Quest for the Lost Maya, a team of anthropologists discovers the Maya may have been in the Yucatan as far back as 500 BCE. This new evidence indicates the Maya had a very complex social structure, distinctive religious practices, and unique technological innovations that made civilization possible in the harsh jungle of the Yucatan.
This segment of Quest for the Lost Maya explores the so-called collapse of Mayan civilization. Despite popular belief, the Maya remain an important part of the human geography of the Yucatan.
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Did the Maya disappear? Explain.
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Answer
No, there are millions of Mayans and Mayan speakers still inhabiting Central America today.
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Answer
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What are some of the challenges Maya peoples have had to overcome?
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Answer
The Mayan people have endured environmental catastrophe, political decline, and later, European conquest.
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Answer
very old.
person who studies cultures and characteristics of communities and civilizations.
person who studies artifacts and lifestyles of ancient cultures.
learned behavior of people, including their languages, belief systems, social structures, institutions, and material goods.
data that can be measured, observed, examined, and analyzed to support a conclusion.
the study of the way human communities and systems interact with their environment.
tropical ecosystem filled with trees and underbrush.
people and culture native to southeastern Mexico and Central America.
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