Топик: Travelling

- What do you know about the native inhabitants of the New World?

- Before Columbus set foot on the shores of the New World on 12 October 1492, the Mayans lived around the great cities and temples their ancestors had built in the south-eastern Mexico. It is a well established fact that the Maya civilization reached its zenith during the Classical period, from about AD 250 to 900. After AD 900 it began to decay, perhaps owing to stresses in the social structure, overpopulation, and deforestation." A number of important cities emerged in the late Classic period. The inhabitants of the cities were building striking stone architectural monuments, but their scientific and artistic achievements were not remarkable. Their economies remained underdeveloped. By the time of the Spanish conquest, the Maya civilization was in decline, yet they resisted subjugation longer than either the Aztecs of Mexico or the Incas of Peru. Spain ruled Central America for about 300 years. The Mayans maintained their autonomy only 1697. Unfortunately, disease and the social disruption brought with the Spanish conquest annihilated a large part of the native population during the 16th century.