CHAPTER II 
THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION 
HE wonderful culture of the Mayan Indians to 
which we will now turn our attention was developed 
in the humid lowlands of Central America and especially 
in the Yucatan peninsula. Artists are everywhere of 
the opinion that the sculptures and other products of 
the Mayas deserve to rank among the highest art pro- 
ducts of the world, and astronomers are amazed at the 
progress made by this people in the measuring of time 
by the observed movements of the heavenly bodies. 
Moreover, they invented a remarkable system of 
hieroglyphic writing by which they were able to record 
facts and events and they built great cities of stone 
that attest a degree of wealth and splendor beyond any- 
thing seen elsewhere in the New World. 
The Mayan culture was made possible by the agri- 
cultural conquest of the rich lowlands where the exuber- 
ance of nature can only be held in check by organized 
effort. On the highlands the preparation of the land 
is comparatively easy, owing to scanty natural vegeta- 
tion and a control vested in irrigation. Onthelowlands, 
however, great trees have to be felled and fast-growing 
bushes kept down by untiring energy. But when 
nature is truly tamed she returns recompense many 
fold to the daring farmer. Moreover, there is reason 
to believe that the removal of the forest cover over large 
areas affects favorably the conditions of life which under 
a canopy of leaves are hard indeed. 
The principal crops of the Mayas were probably much 
the same as on the highlands, with maize as the great 
staple. Varieties favorable to a humid environment 
65 
