Science. 1982 Jan 15;215(4530):260-7. doi: 10.1126/science.215.4530.260.
Maya beginnings go back at least 4000 years in southern Mexico and Central America. The Maya of the tropical lowlands were one of several linguistically distinct groups who occupied pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Their complex social order and civilization, which arose from early village farming, encompassed remarkable achievements in architecture, the arts, and hieroglyphic writing. Their Classic civilization (A.D. 250 to 1000) was a tightly integrated system in which subsistence, technology, settlement, the arts, and ideology closely intermeshed. Their decline and the subsequent Postclassic Period (A.D. 1000 to .1520), the continuing subjects of debate among Mayanists, are perhaps best understood in the light of more widespread Mesoamerican trends and changes.
玛雅文明的起源可以追溯到至少 4000 年前的墨西哥南部和中美洲地区。热带低地的玛雅人是几个在哥伦布前时期占据中美洲地区的在语言上有明显区别的群体之一。他们复杂的社会秩序和文明起源于早期的乡村农业，包括在建筑、艺术和象形文字书写方面的显著成就。他们的古典文明（公元 250 年至 1000 年）是一个紧密结合的系统，其中生计、技术、定居点、艺术和意识形态紧密交织。他们的衰落和随后的后古典时期（公元 1000 年至 1520 年），是玛雅学者们争论的话题，或许可以从更广泛的中美洲趋势和变化的角度来更好地理解。
