The Rise of the Maya: Preclassic Brilliance

Long before the Classic Period of Maya Civilization, great cities, beautiful art and powerful kings were emerging in the Maya region. Often overlooked, the Preclassic period saw the Maya create some of their greatest achievements in history and develop critical components of their culture. Discover how the Maya bloomed late but brilliantly.

William Saturno on the discovery of the San Bartolo Murals:

[TheWastelander]

I just found your channel and binged everything over the last few weeks. So stoked for this new video. You're feeding the beast 1491 created!

[songbird]

You couldn’t have uploaded at a better time, this will distract me from my mental breakdown, I sincerely thank you

[Connie.T.]

I was never into premodern history before finding this channel last month, and now I can't believe I missed out for so long. Thanks for making this stuff accessible to the average Jane!

[ryanfitzalan]

I spent 3 months in 2012, living in the town surrounding Chichen Itza. While i was there we took a brief trip to a random town not far away, some no-name jungle village. When we approached the village, none of us noticed that there were large hills surrounding us, which we didn't notice because we were Americans and unfamiliar with the local geography. For us, driving by wooded hills isn't unusual. In this village, the locals where doing something that has become very common throughout Latin America. They were clearing and attempting to excavate and rebuild pyramids. The goal of this is to create tourist destinations. When we got out of our van a local took us through the jungle towards a large hill, This was the pyramid they were looking to uncover. We hiked to the top of the "Hill", which was not easy and we stumbled over root torn bricks and rocks. When we got to the top, there was a clearing made by the workers. From there you could see clear across the peninsula, and in the distance, was the Great pyramid of Chichen. It was than i realized, that every hill we passed on the way there, was not a hill. they were all pyramids, covered by the forest. clearly from the top you could see that the area was geographically flat.... like flat flat. yet across the entire horizon, everywhere you looked, big awkward unnatural looking hills, shot straight into the sky, all still covered with forest. I cannot put words to that moment, the ancient societies of central America were absolutely massive. There is still so much to uncover there.

[rhaywitsam]

I remember liking every video of this channel when it had only 500-ish subscribers. Now I got this notification and wow, almost 50.000! I'm very happy the engagement was worth it! Another nice video to watch before sleep ☺️

[erickricardoflores]

Im salvadorean and Im really proud and thankful for your videos. We in Central America need sources of information about our past. Since it was almost destroyed videos like yours, scientifically grounded are of great need and importance. THANKS and greetings from Heidelberg, Germany.

[Luboman]

I'm half Mayan (grandparents on father's side speak Kaqchiquel) and was born in Guatemala City. In fact, Kaminaljuyu was maybe a mile from where I grew up before I came to the U.S. This is freaking awesome! I've learned some Chinese, but at times I feel the pull of learning the language of my ancestors. The writing seems crazy difficult in comparison to traditional Chinese, however. The fact that syllables in Maya are written sometimes with five or six different laboriously complex symbols that can be smashed into each other, modified into something else, and sometimes hidden, seems incredibly perverse for a written language. Why make it so difficult to write just to assuage the egos of artsy-fartsy scribes? The Chinese were way more disciplined--it's almost always one symbol, one syllable. That kept their writing, though elaborate, very stable for almost 2, 000 years. In any case, this was wonderful. I've subscribed! :D

[atlasaltera]

Man, I'm torn. I want you to get to the PNW as soon as possible, but I also want to see you cover all the other Mesoamerican ethno-linguistic groups and cultures. Have you covered the Purepecha yet? Can we get some Lenca and Xinca, or the cool outlier Oto-Manguean and Uto-Aztecan groups in Central America?

And yes, Kaminaljuyu also deserves its own episode...

And despite the culturally shocking depiction... the San Bartolo murals have this amazing aesthetic...such a command on style, really brought back to life with those modern paintings/renderings. Thank you for this introduction.

[abramjones]

I'm very interested in economic history. You talked a bit about the limestone industry as well as the industries in el mirador... which is very informative. It would be great to hear more about such economic factors of the early Americas.

[superhappyfuntimeshow]

In January of 2020, just before all the coronavirus mess went down, I did the 6 day hike through the reserve to mirador, nakbe, etc. Those sites were amazing, breathtaking, confusing, fascinating, etc, but what was my favorite part was probably taking the sacbes on the hike. You'd be trudging through the jungle, exhausted and frustrated from the muddy and uneven terrain, and then we'd suddenly hit the remnants of one of the causeways and the hike suddenly got way easier. they're everything you said, high off the ground and super wide... and straight as an arrow. For me, stuff like that really is a testament to how much work went into these places. Sure, the pyramids were giant and passionate projects but those roads are just as immense, and serve maybe even more purpose as they connected everyone, common or ruler, and all the other cities? Plus the remnants of structures were lined all around the roads, everywhere you looked there were buildings that had completely collapsed. The hike to El Mirador is the most amazing thing Ive ever done, id do it again and again and again. And exhausting! that heat and humidity was killer

[deborahtrimble]

This is such an amazing site I shared it with the curator of the Native American Museum in Bentonville Arkansas. Thanks for the excellent (and entertaining ) look back!

[chapin]

It warms my heart to know the history of my ancestors, I was born and raised in Zacapa, Is incredible to know how amazing my ancestors were

[GringoLoco]

Very interesting, especially about the limestone stucco, and how discoveries of 3, 000 year old cities are still happening! Amazing that the Maya had already developed a writing and calendar system several centuries BC.

[diamondtiara]

Before checking out this channel, I never bothered learning anything about ancient American history, thinking it would be boring. You sure proved me wrong about that!

[EvilSmonker]

Thank you for getting me into precolumbian american history, I've always loved old world history; but I discounted the americans due to ignorance. Common media portrays them very poorly in my opinion, so I believe you are truly doing a very good thing by creating these videos.

[DreamcastQ]

This channel is the best, I have a bachelor's degree in History of the Americas and love to share these videos around

[LautaroArgentino]

Great video as always!

How much I would love to see how the American continent would look like today had it been less thoroughly colonized.

[christiancano]

I'm excited about the full Kaminaljuyu episode!

[leesenger]

I am really fascinated with the content available on your channel! I am incredibly grateful for your research and insights! Having watched it all, I am eagerly awaiting your next release! I wouldn't mind an hour or more of your work in a single episode. Thanks and please keep it up

[caleballen]

Your enthusiasm and passion shine through your videos. Thanks for the educating work, you're sharing great knowledge!