During pre-Hispanic times, a vast cultural region known as Mesoamerica developed, encompassing much of central and southern Mexico and Central America. In the eastern part of this region, the Maya civilization flourished and thrived.

The pre-Columbian Maya legacy remains visible in the ruins of vanished cities and in the objects uncovered there. It is also evident in the more than thirty contemporary Maya peoples who still inhabit nearly the same territories, speak languages derived from their ancestral linguistic root, Proto-Maya, and preserve the essence of their customs, rituals, and worldview—albeit with distinct influences from Spanish colonization and the passage of time.

A worldview is how human groups interpret and give meaning to their surroundings. The Maya conceived the cosmos as divided into three planes—sky, earth, and underworld—organized around four cardinal directions and a central point of origin. The sky had thirteen superimposed layers governed by Itzamnaaj and the Oxlahuntikú. It was the domain of the sun, moon, and stars.

The earth, inhabited by humanity, was represented by the back of a crocodile or a turtle. The underworld, or Xibalbá, consisted of nine levels and was the abode of the Bolontikú, ruled by Ah Puch or Yum Kimil, the Lord of Death. The ceiba tree, sacred to the Maya, connected all three planes and stood as the axis of the Maya cosmos. The Maya also believed in complementary and inseparable opposites that formed the essence of all things: life and death, male and female, light and darkness, among others.

Maya civilization stands out for its remarkable intellectual achievements and the development of science and the arts. They produced food and raw materials that supported a high level of cultural development, evidenced by architectural remains and utilitarian and luxury objects reflecting a complex social organization.

Social stratification was based on access to resources and each group’s role in productive activities. The social structure was headed by rulers and priests, who made decisions about production and controlled the surplus. Their noble relatives facilitated the exercise of power, along with artists and merchants, while production activities were carried out by farmers, laborers, and artisans who were subject to a tribute system.

A Maya city reflects advanced knowledge in disciplines such as mathematics, urban planning, engineering, architecture, astronomy, calendrics, and timekeeping, among many others.

Unlike villages, cities demonstrate deliberate planning and mirror the worldview of the society that built them. Power centers, ritual spaces, and public gathering areas reveal a highly stratified society.

During the Classic period (250–1000 CE), the Maya built large civic-ceremonial centers with monumental architecture and platforms arranged around plazas. These featured corbel-vaulted stone buildings and elaborate stucco and sculptural ornamentation. Such structures recorded historical events and figures, expressed their worldview, and supported the extensive rituals that legitimized the authority of the ruling class.

Monumental sculpture was integrated into Maya architecture. This section presents various elements such as columns, capitals, lintels, and stelae commissioned by the great lords of their respective cities. These pieces typically portray prominent political and religious figures adorned with jewelry such as bracelets and pectorals, as well as elaborate headdresses made of long feathers. Today, we see only the cream or whitish hue of the limestone, but originally these pieces were coated with a thin layer of stucco and painted in bright colors—especially red, blue, yellow, orange, and green.

Some columns and stelae display hieroglyphs indicating the names, titles, and deeds of these elite figures. Occasionally, the dates of such events were also inscribed.