Guatemala has a long history of being a thriving fishing and farming community that can be dated back to 2000 BC, even before the Maya civilization dominated Central America. During the Early Classic period around AD 250, many magnificent temple cities were constructed in the Guatemalan highlands. However, by the Late Classic period, from AD 600 to 900, the primary power had moved to the lowlands of El Peten. However, after the mysterious demise of the Mayans, the Itzaes settled in El Peten.

Interestingly, many of the Mayan ruins were discovered when Pedro de Alvarado came to this country for the King of Spain in 1523. However, the kingdoms remaining in the highlands were crushed by Alvarado’s armies, lands turned into large estates, and the people exploited by the new property owners. Then friars of Dominican, Augustinian, and Franciscan arrived but they were unable to stop the exploitation. Sadly, the religious imperialism they brought with them was the cause of many valuable traces of the Mayan culture to be demolished. Click here to read more.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20th, 2006 at 9:47 am and is filed under Central America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.