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2000 BCE
Farming villages begin to form.
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Period: 2000 BCE to 250
Pre-Classic Period
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1500 BCE
Maya takes on Olmec religion
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1000 BCE
Maya form larger settlements
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700 BCE
Mayan writing develops
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600 BCE
Tikal formed
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600 BCE
Large cities are built
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400 BCE
first Mayan calender
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300 BCE
First Mayan monarchy is formed
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100 BCE
Teotihuacan is established in the Valley of Mexico
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100 BCE
First pyramids are built
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Period: 250 to 900
Classic period
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400
Teotihuacan becomes the dominant city
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560
Tikal is defeated
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600
Teotihuacan declines and is no longer a cultural center
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900
The southern lowland cities collapse and Teotihuacan is abandoned
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Period: 900 to 1500
Post-Classic Period
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925
Chichen Itza becomes most powerful city-state in region
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925
Chichen Itza becomes the most powerful city-state in the region
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1250
Chichen Itza is abandoned
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1283
Mayapan becomes the capital city
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1441
The people rebel against the rule of Mayapan
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Period: 1500 to
Colonial Period
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1517
Spanish arrive
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1519
Hernan Cortes arrives and explores the Yucatan Peninsula
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1541
Many of the Mayan city-states are conquered by the Spanish
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1542
The Spanish found the city of Merida
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The ruins of Tikal are discovered