| DATE |
ENGLISH |
ESPANOL |
| 12000 BCE | Arrival of first humans in Central America. | |
| 9500 BCE | Paleoindian period marked by stone fluted spear points found at Ladyville, Belize, Los Tapiales, and in Huehuetenango. Hunter-gatherers, perhaps hunting now extinct Ice Age animals such as the giant horse, mammoth, and armadillo. | |
| 7000 BCE | 7000-2000 BCE, the Archaic Period: stemmed stone points and constricted unifaces for hunting and butchering deer, rabbit, and other small animals found at Colha and Pulltrouser Swamp, northern Belize. | |
| 6500 BCE | Hunter-gatherer settlements in what is now Quiche and Escuintla. | |
| 3500 BCE | Cultivation of maize begins. | |
| Aug 11, 3114 BCE | Beginning of the current calendric cycle of the Mayan calendar. A baktun is a period of 144,000 days or 394.25 years. The Classic Period occurred during the 8th and 9th baktuns. We are now in the 13th baktun, the last day of which occurs on Dec 20, 2012 in the Gregorian calendar and 12.19.19.17.19 of the Mayan calendar. The 14th baktun begins on 13.0.0.0.0 or Dec 21, 2010. Some adherents of New Age religions erroneously believe that the Mayan calendar ends on this date and that some cataclysm will occur. But this date simply marks the beginning of the next baktun (the 14th). It's analogous to a century of the modern calendar. When 20 baktuns are completed (7,885 years) a new piktun begins. The piktun is not normally written on Long Count dates because it is assumed, just as we don't write leading zeros, 000002012, just 2012. When 20 piktuns are completed, or 157,700 years, a new kalabtun begins. In fact there are two more digits defined beyond these in the Mayan Long Count Calendar, the k'inchiltun and the alautun. so the Mayan calendar has another 1.2 billion years to go before it occupies all the digits defined. Written in full, the Long Count date for Dec 20, 2012 is 0.0.0.0.12.19.19.17.19. Remember that each digit is a factor of 20, not 10. And since the Mayans use a positional number system, just like ours, the calendar really has no end point, just like the Gregorian calendar has no endpoint. | |
| 2500 BCE | Corn pollen from around this date found at Cobweb Swamp, Belize, indicates clearing of forest and planting of corn by people in the southern Maya lowlands. | |
| 2500 BCE | Small settlements develop in the Pacific lowlands in places such as Tilapa, La Blanca, Ocós, El Mesak, and Ujuxte. Ceramic pottery is being made. | |
| 2000 BCE | 2000 BCE-300 CE is considered the Mayan Preclassic Period. 2000-1000 BCE is considered the Early Preclassic Period. 1000-300 BCE is considered the Middle Preclassic Period. 300 BCE-300 CE is considered the Late Preclassic Period. | |
| 1800 BCE | 1800-1500 BCE, the Barra Complex, earliest known Mayan pottery on the Pacific coast of Guatemala at sites associated with permanent villages. | |
| 1700 BCE | 1700-1500 BCE, Locona complex on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, sites associated with a ranked society. | |
| 1500 BCE | 1500-1400 BCE, Ocos complex, with cord-marked pottery at Salinas La Blanca site on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. | |
| 1200 BCE | Rise of Olmec civilization on the Gulf coast of Mexico with first capital city at San Lorenzo, having monumental architecture, widely influencing later cultures including the Mayan. | |
| 1000 BCE | 1000-300 BCE, Middle Preclassic Period of the Maya. 1000-700 BCE is considere the early part of Middle Preclassic Period. | |
| 1000 BCE | Earliest pottery in the Maya lowlands, called Swasey pottery, reported by Norman Hammond at Cuello in northern Belize, and later recognized at Santa Rita, Colha, Cahal Pech, and other sites in Belize. Marks the beginning of the Middle Preclassic Period in the Maya lowlands, the first agriculture, first permanent village life, as well as the earliest evidence of people who were ethnically Maya. | |
| 1000 BCE | Middle Preclassic pottery (called Xe) at Seibal and Altar de Sacrificios in El Peten, contemporary with Swasey pottery. | |
| 900 BCE | Collapse of the first Olmec capital at San Lorenzo and rise of second capital at La Venta, which imported jade for carving objects that were widely copied and traded throughout Mesoamerica, including by the Maya. | |
| 800 BCE | From 800 BCE to 200 CE, the Mayan city of Takalik Abaj served as one of the most important economic and cultural centers of pre-Columbian times. | A partir de 800 AEC a 200 EC, la ciudad Maya de Takalik Abaj fue uno de los más importantes centros económicos y culturales de la época precolombina. |
| 600 BCE | Cival, about 25 miles east of the much better known city of Tikal, was discovered in 1984. Cival flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE when it was abandoned. Artifacts at the site dated to this time. | Cival, a unos 25 kilómetros al este de la ciudad mucho más conocida de Tikal, fue descubierto en 1984. Cival floreció desde 600 AEC hasta el 100 EC, cuando fue abandonado. Los artefactos en el lugar data de esta época. |
| 600 BCE | The Mayan site at El Mirador flourished from about 600 BCE to 100 CE, with the peak from 300 BCE to 100 CE. After this it was sporadically inhabited until being abandoned around 900 CE. | El sitio Maya de El Mirador florecieron a partir de alrededor de 600 AEC a 100 EC, con el pico de 300 AEC a 100 EC. Después de esto fue habitado esporádicamente hasta que fue abandonada alrededor del año 900 EC. |
| 600 BCE | Earliest known hierogylph at the non-Mayan site of San Jose, Mogote, Oaxaca, Mexico. | |
| 300 BCE | 300 BCE to 300 CE is considered the Late Preclassic Period of the Maya. Rise of social complexity in the Maya area. | |
| 300 BCE | In 2006 archaeologists at the San Bartolo site in Guatemala dated Mayan hieroglyphs painted on plaster and stone to the period from 300-200 BCE. | En 2006 los arqueólogos en el sitio de San Bartolo en Guatemala los jeroglíficos mayas de fecha pintados sobre piedra para el período de 300 a 200 AEC. |
| 300 BCE | Earliest known painted murals at San Bartolo, Guatemala depicting Vucub Caquix. | |
| 200 BCE | Miraflores Complex of the Late Preclassic at Kaminaljuyu shows increasing social complexity, elaborate temples, fancy burial offerings. | |
| 150 BCE | Large stucco and painted masks on facades of temples at Cerros (Belize); Nakbe, Uaxactun, Tikal, and Dzibilchaltun. | |
| 150 BCE | Cival, located 25 miles east of Tikal, was a large and sophisticated Mayan city of some 10,000 people. | Cival, situado a 25 kilómetros al este de Tikal, fue una ciudad Maya grande y sofisticada de unas 10.000 personas. |
| 150 BCE | In 2005 archaeologists at the San Bartolo site in Guatemala led by Guatemalan, Monica Pellecer Alecio, found the oldest known Maya royal burial, from around 150 BCE. Excavating beneath a small pyramid, the team found a burial complex that included ceramic vessels and the bones of a man, with a jade plaque, the symbol of Maya royalty, on his chest. | En 2005 los arqueólogos en el sitio de San Bartolo en Guatemala dirigido por guatemaltecos, Mónica Pellecer Alecio, que se encuentra la más antigua conocida entierro real Maya, de alrededor de 150 AEC. Excavación por debajo de una pequeña pirámide, el equipo encontró un complejo funerario que incluía vasijas de cerámica y los huesos de un hombre, con una placa de jade, símbolo de la realeza Maya, en el pecho. |
| 100 BCE | In 2005 archaeologist William Saturno said he was awe-struck when he uncovered a Mayan mural not seen for two millennia. Discovered at the San Bartolo site in Guatemala, the mural covers the west wall of a room attached to a pyramid. | En 2005 el arqueólogo William Saturno dijo que estaba impresionante llamó la atención cuando descubrió un mural Maya no visto desde hace dos milenios. Descubierto en el sitio de San Bartolo en Guatemala, el mural cubre la pared oeste de una sala anexa a una pirámide. |
| 100 BCE | From about 100 BCE to 1 BCE, the painted cave of Naj Tunich in the Peten of Guatemala began attracting pilgrims. | De alrededor de 100 AEC a 1 AEC, la cueva pintada de Naj Tunich en el Petén de Guatemala comenzaron a atraer a los peregrinos. |
| 100 BCE | A mural was painted about this time at the Mayan ceremonial site of San Bartolo, Guatemala. It was uncovered by archeologist William Saturno of the Univ. of New Hampshire in 2001. | Un mural fue pintado por este tiempo en el sitio ceremonial Maya de San Bartolo, Guatemala. Fue descubierta por el arqueólogo William Saturno, de la Universidad. de New Hampshire en 2001. |
| 36 CE | Earliest Maya stela at El Baul. | |