Mesoamerican Civilizations

Mesoamerican civilizations — including the Olmec (1500-400 BCE, 'mother culture'), Maya (2000 BCE-1500 CE, the most mathematically and astronomically advanced), Toltec, and Aztec — developed independently of Old World civilizations, creating cities, writing systems, calendars, mathematics (including zero, independently of India), astronomy, and monumental architecture. The Maya civilization reached its Classical Peak (250-900 CE) with cities like Tikal, Palenque, Copán, and Chichén Itzá containing populations of 50,000-100,000 people. Maya astronomy — tracking Venus's exact 584-day synodic cycle, predicting solar eclipses, developing a 365-day solar calendar and a 260-day ritual calendar — was more accurate than contemporary European astronomy. The Maya also developed one of the few fully independent writing systems in world history (Maya hieroglyphs, decoded by Yuri Knorozov 1952).