Maya Timeline

1000 BCE – 1524 CE · 9 sites

Maya civilization is a long sequence of city-states, not one capital. Preclassic platforms, Classic inscriptions, and Postclassic centres sit on the same peninsula — LiDAR has expanded several urban footprints the way it did at Angkor.

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All sites in this period

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Continent Record

Most-Visited Ancient Site in North America

Chichén Itzá

600 CE – 1200 CE

A major Maya-Toltec ceremonial center from 600–1200 CE, featuring the iconic stepped pyramid of Kukulcán and one of the largest ballcourts in Mesoamerica.

422

Pre-ColumbianEarly MedievalHigh Medieval

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Country Record

Oldest City in Guatemala

Tikal

400 BCE – 900 CE

Tikal, a preeminent Maya city in Guatemala, flourished from c. 400 BCE to 900 CE as a political, economic, and ceremonial hub, boasting towering temples and extensive urban infrastructure in the Petén rainforest.

322

Pre-ColumbianClassicalRoman

Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal

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Country Record

Longest Continuously Occupied Site in Mexico

Palenque

226 BCE – 900 CE

A Classic Maya city in the Chiapas jungle whose Palace, Temple of the Inscriptions, and exquisite carved reliefs make it one of the greatest Maya sites — home to the undisturbed tomb of the ruler K'inich Janaab' Pakal, discovered in 1952.

311

Pre-ColumbianClassical

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Tulum

1200 CE – 1524 CE

A late Maya walled city perched on a limestone cliff above the turquoise Caribbean on the eastern coast of the Yucatán — one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya, flourishing as a trading port between the 13th and 16th centuries and still occupied when the Spanish arrived. Its clifftop "Castillo" overlooking the sea is among the most photographed ruins in the Americas.

311

Pre-Columbian

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Uxmal

600 CE – 1000 CE

A great Maya city in the Puuc hills of Yucatán, Mexico, and the finest expression of the ornate Puuc architectural style — its rounded Pyramid of the Magician, sprawling Governor's Palace, and Nunnery Quadrangle covered in intricate stone latticework and masks of the rain god Chaac. It flourished between roughly 600 and 1000 CE.

Pre-Columbian

The great pyramids of Calakmul rising above the rainforest, Campeche, Mexico

Country Record

Oldest City in Mexico

Calakmul

300 BCE – 900 CE

One of the two greatest Maya superpowers of the Classic period — the capital of the Snake (Kaan) dynasty, hidden deep in the rainforest of Campeche, Mexico. Its towering pyramids overlook a city that once held tens of thousands of people and waged a long struggle with rival Tikal for dominance over the Maya lowlands.

Pre-Columbian

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Continent Record

Southernmost Known Site in North America

Copán

426 CE – 822 CE

Copán, a major Classic Maya city (426–822 CE) in western Honduras, is renowned for its sculptured stelae, hieroglyphic stairway, and sophisticated art.

322

Pre-ColumbianLate AntiqueEarly Medieval

Forested mass of the La Danta pyramid rising above the canopy at El Mirador

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Continent Record

Oldest City in North America

El Mirador

1000 BCE – 150 CE

The Preclassic Maya megacity deep in Guatemala’s Petén — home to La Danta, one of the world’s largest pyramids by volume — ranks among the highest Wikipedia pageview archaeological gaps and anchors early lowland Maya state formation before Classic Tikal.

Pre-Columbian

Temple 33 with roof comb rising above the jungle at Yaxchilan, Chiapas, Mexico

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Known by the Most Names in Mexico

Yaxchilan

250 CE – 900 CE

A Classic Maya city perched on a dramatic bend of the Usumacinta River in the Chiapas jungle — renowned for its stone lintels, the finest narrative sculpture in Mesoamerican art, which record in astonishing detail the blood rituals, warfare, and dynastic politics of its 8th-century rulers.

Pre-Columbian