Maya roots more tangled than previously thought

The classic Maya civilisation, which flourished in Central America for more than 600 years, has been celebrated for its vast city states adorned with monumental pyramids and for its technological feats such as the development of an elaborate written language and impressively accurate astronomical observations.

But for decades, archaeologists have argued over the birth of the culture that spawned those splendid cities about 1000 BC. Did Maya society spring from the Olmec civilisation of Mexico's Gulf Coast, known for its colossal carved stone heads? Or did it emerge independently through some local process?

A new analysis of items from a long-buried ceremonial structure in central Guatemala supports a third hypothesis, researchers reported - that lowland Maya culture grew out of an amalgam of influences from nearby settlements.

"The origin of Maya civilisation was more complex than previously thought," said Takeshi Inomata, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson and lead author of a study detailing the analysis in the journal Science.

In his view, the culture that went on to dominate Mesoamerica until the arrival of Europeans got its start during a power vacuum that lasted for about 200 to 350 years in a period of Olmec rule. That allowed the people who built the ceremonial structure at a site known as Ceibal to interact with others from nearby areas and begin forming a new culture. They probably had influences from as far away as Chiapas and the Pacific Coast, both about 200 miles away.

"Ceibal was a part of this major change," Inomata said.

Inomata has been working at Ceibal, in the southwestern Maya lowlands, since 2005. The people who lived there repeatedly built on the same site over hundreds of years, leaving behind layers of civilisation that extend 30 feet or more beneath the surface. Digging deep to gain access to ancient construction, Inomata and his team - which included his wife, Daniela Triadan, also of the University of Arizona - discovered a collection of structures that archaeologists refer to as "E-Group assemblages." There was a square building on the west, an open plaza and a long platform on the east. By 700 BC, the building was as much as 26 feet tall.

- Los Angeles Times