Maya Region

The Maya Region is cultural, first order subdivision of Mesoamerica, located in the eastern half of the latter. Though first settled by Palaeoindians by at least 10,000 BC, it is now most commonly characterised and recognised as the territory which encompassed the Maya civilisation in the pre-Columbian era.

Maya Region Maya Area Maya Realm
Historical region
The Maya Region / major rivers, mountain ranges, and regions labelled / 2015 map by S. Burchell
Maya Region Location of the Maya Region in Mesoamerica
Coordinates: 17°N 90°W / 17; -90
Location	Belize, Guatemala, western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, southeastern Mexico
Part of	Mesoamerica
Area
• Total	125,000 sq mi (320,000 km2)a
Dimensions
• Length	540 mi (870 km)b
• Width	410 mi (660 km)b
Highest elevation	13,845 ft (4,220 m)c (Tajumulco Volcano)
Subdivisions	Lowlands Highlands Pacific
a cf [note 1] b cf [note 2] c cf [note 3]

Extent

The Maya Region is firmly bounded to the north, east, and southwest by the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean, respectively.^[1][2] It is less firmly bounded to the west and southeast by 'zones of cultural interaction and transition between Maya and non-Maya peoples.'^[3][2] The western transition between Maya and non-Maya peoples roughly corresponds to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, while the southeastern one roughly corresponds to a line running northwards from the mouth of the Lempa River to that of the Ulua River.^{[4][2][5][note 4]}

Divisions

The Maya Region is traditionally divided into three cultural and geographic, first order subdivisions, namely, the Maya Lowlands, Maya Highlands, and the Maya Pacific.^{[6][note 5]} The Region's internal borders, like some of its external ones, are not usually precisely fixed, as they are rather demarcated by 'subtle environmental changes or transitions from one zone to another.'^[7][8] Additionally, the Lowlands, Highlands, and Pacific are often further subdivided along similarly imprecise lines, giving rise to a myriad roughly-demarcated second order subdivisions for the Maya Region.^[9][10]

Lowlands

Main article: Maya Lowlands

The Maya Lowlands are a low-lying karstic plain stretching from Campeche in Mexico through northern Guatemala and into northwestern Honduras, thereby encompassing all of the Yucatan Peninsula and its abutting plains (including all of Belize).^[11] The plain generally lies below 2,625 feet (800 m).^{[12][note 6]} Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 77–95 °F (25–35 °C) and 20–120 inches (510–3,050 mm), respectively.^[13] Wet seasons range from six to eleven months (usually starting in May or June), with dry seasons ranging from one to six months.^{[13][note 7]}

Highlands

Main article: Maya Highlands

The Maya Highlands are a geologically-active east-west band of peaks and valleys stretching from Tabasco in Mexico through central Guatemala and into northwestern Honduras, and generally topping 2,625 feet (800 m).^[14][15] Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 59–77 °F (15–25 °C) and 80–120 inches (2,000–3,000 mm), respectively.^[16] Wet seasons typically last eight months (May–December), with dry seasons typically compressed to four (January–April).^{[16][note 8]}

Pacific

The Maya Pacific, also known as the Pacific Coastal Plain, is a fertile volcanic-sedimentary plain stretching along the Pacific coast from Chiapas in Mexico through southern Guatemala and into western El Salvador.^[17] Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 77–95 °F (25–35 °C) and 80–120 inches (2,000–3,000 mm), respectively.^[18] Wet seasons typically last eight months (May–December), with dry seasons typically compressed to four (January–April).^[18]

Geography

Physical

The Maya Region is 'one of the most varied environments on earth.'^[19] Its terrain ranges from vast sea-level plains to near-inaccessible peaks topping 10,000 feet (3,000 m).^[19][20] Its soils range from rich alluvial and volcanic types to poor karstic ones, resulting in vegetation ranging from lush to sparse.^[19][8] Mean annual temperatures and rainfall range within 59–95 °F (15–35 °C) and 20–160 inches (500–4,000 mm), respectively.^[21][22] Wet seasons range from six to eleven months, with dry seasons ranging from one to six months.^{[23][note 9]} Surface freshwater is readily available year-round in some areas, and virtually absent in others.^[7][24] Nonetheless, broadly speaking, the Region is described as featuring two geographic zones , namely, lowlands and highlands, with the former lying below circa 1,000–2,625 feet (305–800 m), and the latter above.^[25][26] Naturally, lowlands are predominantly found within the Maya Lowlands and Pacific, with highlands generally restricted to the Maya Highlands.^[26]

Climate

The Maya Region is generally described as having two climes, a cool, temperate one (prevalent in highlands), and a hot, tropical one (prevalent in lowlands).^[19] Each of these experiences two seasons, a wet one, and a dry one. Rainfall in the wet season is usually heaviest during June and October, and is thereby described as 'following a double-peaked distribution.'^[27]

Scholars had 'usually assumed that the climatic conditions which now [2010s] prevail in the Maya [Region] have always been the same, all through Maya prehistory and history[; b]ut recent palaeoclimatic research has challenged this assumption, revealing far more climatic fluctuation that previously anticipated.'^[28][29]

Geology

History

Pre-Cenozoic

Middle America, including the Maya Region, is thought to have taken shape sometime after 170 million years ago.^[30] Its formation is thought to have 'involved [the] complex movement of [various] crustal blocks and terrains between the two pre-existing continental masses [ie North and South America].'^[31] Details of the pre-Cenozoic portion of this process (ie 170–67 million years ago), however, are not widely agreed upon.^{[31][note 10]} Nonetheless, it has been proposed that the northern Lowlands were subaerially exposed by some 150 million years ago.^{[32][33][note 11]}

Cenozoic

Details of the Cenozoic (ie 66–0 million years ago) geologic history of Middle America, including the Maya Region, are relatively more widely agreed upon.^[31] In broad strokes, the Maya Highlands and Pacific are thought to have been subaerially exposed by some 40 million years ago, with these being initially separated from the northern Lowlands by the incipient Bay of Honduras.^[34] The Bay is thought to have closed by at least 20 million years ago, thereby finally linking the northern and southern portions of the Maya Region together.^{[35][36][note 12]}

Timeline

Prominent geologic events in or relevant to the Maya Region.^{[note 13]}

Start	End	Unit	Epoch	Event	Notes
165	165	Ma	Middle Jurassic	Gulf of Mexico seafloor spreading starts	inc. exposed northern Lowlands; cf [37]
144	144	Ma	Early Cretaceous	Caribbean Sea seafloor spreading starts	cf [37][note 14]
120	120	Ma	Early Cretaceous	Chortis Block subduction into southwestern Mexico stops	cf [38][note 15]
65	65	Ma	Palaeocene	Chicxulub impact	cf [39]
49	49	Ma	Eocene	Cayman Trough rifting starts	cf [40]
26	20	Ma	Oligocene–Miocene	Cayman Trough rifting slows down	cf [40]
23	22	Ma	Miocene	Farallon Plate rifting starts	cf [41]
22	22	Ma	Miocene	Cocos Plate subduction into Chortis Block starts	inc. end of eastwards migration of Chortis Block; inc. possible uplift of Chortis Block; inc. formation of Bay of Honduras ie initial linking of northern and southern portions of the Maya Region; cf [42]

Morphology

Provinces

The Maya Region is thought to fully or partially encompass at least fourteen geologic provinces.^{[43][44][note 16]}

Geologic provinces within the Maya Region per 21st century literature.^{[43][44][note 17]}

USGS No.	Name	Location	Notes
5308	Yucatan Platform	northern Lowlands	–
6117	Greater Antilles Deformed Belt	offshore Lowlands	–
6120	Cayman Trough	southern Lowlands	–
6125	Maya Mountains	central Lowlands	–
5305	Villahermosa Uplift	western Lowlands	–
5306	Macuspana Basin	western Lowlands	–
5304	Saline–Comalcalco Basin	western Lowlands	–
5302	Veracruz Basin	western Lowlands	–
5303	Tuxla Uplift	western Lowlands	–
5311	Chiapas Massif	western Lowlands	–
5310	Sierra Madre de Chiapas–Peten Foldbelt	southern Lowlands, northern Highlands	–
6088	Pacific Offshore Basin	Pacific	–
6122	Chiapas Massif–Nuclear Central America	Highlands	–
6087	Choco Pacific Basin	Highlands	–

Basins

The Maya Region is believed to fully or partially comprehend at least five sedimentary basins.^[45]

Sedimentary basins within the Maya Region per 21st century literature.^{[45][note 18]}

Evenick ID	Name	Location	Notes
119	Campeche	northern Lowlands	–
519	Peten–Corozal	central Lowlands	–
757	Yucatan	northern Lowlands	–
647	Sureste	western Lowlands	–
–	Limon–Bocas del Toro	Pacific, southern Highlands	–

Tectonics

The majority of the Maya Region sits on the Maya Block of the North American Plate, though its southernmost extremes extend beyond this crustal fragment into the neighbouring Chortis Block of the Caribbean Plate.^{[46][47][48][note 19]} The Region notably houses the active Motagua–Polochic Fault Zone in the south, part of the Central American Volcanic Front in the southwest, and further borders the Eastern Mexican Transform to the west.^{[49][50][51][note 20]}

Stratigraphy

The Maya Region's pre-Mesozoic crystalline basement is only exposed in the Mixtequita or Guichicovi Complex, the Chiapas Massif, the Altos Cuchumatanes, the Maya Mountains, and along the Chicxulub impact crater.^[52] It is elsewhere blanketed by extensive Mesozoic sedimentary cover.^[53][54]