The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant Indigenous societies of Mesoamerica (a term used to describe Mexico and Central America before the 16th century Spanish conquest). 900, however, and since the 19th century scholars have debated what might have caused this dramatic decline. Most of the great stone cities of the Maya were abandoned by A.D.
The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork. The Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D.
Cities of Stone: The Classic Maya, A.D.