Post-Classic Period

The collapse of great lowland Maya centers shook the entire Maya world, and serves as the marker between the Classic and Post-Classic periods. However, not all city-states were completely abandoned; in Chiapas [1], smaller entities like Tenam Puente [2], Chinkultik [3], and Izapa [4] managed to survive the upheaval, and even blossomed once free of the long shadow—political, economic, and military—of the fallen lowland powers.

Nevertheless, the Post-Classic era is marked by the narrowing of Maya influence and the arrival of the Central Mexican immigrants and invaders. While Maya communities remained vibrant and fiercely independent—as the first would-be European conquerors soon discovered—the era of grandiose Maya cities, especially in Chiapas [1], was over.