Cancún & the Yucatán - Monkey Max Music and File Download

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Part I: Introducing Cancún & the Yucatán
also began their rise to prominence around this time: the people of
Teotihuacán, just north of present-day Mexico City, and the Zapotec
of Monte Albán, in the valley of Oaxaca.
The Classic Period (A.D. 300–900)
The flourishing of these three civilizations marks the boundaries of
this period — the heyday of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artistic and
cultural achievements. These include the pyramids and palaces in
Teotihuacán; the ceremonial center of Monte Albán; and the stelae and
temples of Palenque, Bonampak, and the Tikal site in Guatemala. Beyond
their achievements in art and architecture, the Maya made significant
discoveries in science, including the use of the zero in mathematics and
a complex calendar with which the priests could predict eclipses and
the movements of the stars for centuries to come.
The inhabitants of Teotihuacán (100 B.C.–A.D. 700, near present-day
Mexico City) built a city that, at its zenith, is thought to have had
100,000 or more inhabitants covering 14 sq. km (9 sq. miles). It was a
well-organized city, built on a grid with streams channeled to follow the
city’s plan. Different social classes, such as artisans and merchants,
were assigned to specific neighborhoods. Teotihuacán exerted tremendous
influence as far away as Guatemala and the Yucatán Peninsula. Its
feathered-serpent god, later known as Quetzalcoatl, became part of the
pantheon of many succeeding cultures, including the Toltecs, who
brought the cult to the Yucatán where the god became known as
Kukulkán. The ruling classes were industrious, literate, and cosmopolitan.
The beautiful sculpture and ceramics of Teotihuacán display a
highly stylized and refined aesthetic whose influences can be seen
clearly in objects of Maya and Zapotec origin. Around the seventh century,
the city was abandoned for unknown reasons. Who these people
were and where they went remain mysteries.
The Post-Classic Period (A.D. 900–1521)
Warfare became a more conspicuous activity of the civilizations that
flourished in this period. Social development was impressive but not as
cosmopolitan as the Maya, Teotihuacán, and Zapotec societies. In central
Mexico, a people known as the Toltec established their capital at
Tula in the tenth century. They were originally one of the barbarous
hordes of Indians that periodically migrated from the north. At some
stage in their development, the Toltec were influenced by remnants of
Teotihuacán culture and adopted the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl as
their god. They also revered a god known as Tezcatlipoca, or “smoking
mirror,” who later became a god of the Aztecs.
During this period, the Maya built beautiful cities near the Yucatán’s
Puuc hills. The regional architecture, called Puuc style, is characterized
by elaborate exterior stonework appearing above door frames and
extending to the roofline. Examples of this architecture, such as the
Codz Poop at Kabah and the palaces at Uxmal, Sayil, and Labná, are