Ancient Central American Civilization Captives Today's Cruise Passengers
In 1521, when the Spanish began their conquest of Mexico and Central America, they subdued the declining remnants of a Mayan civilization dating from 2000 B.C. During 35 centuries it had spread over some 125,000 square miles, but the Mayan world was not a unified empire like the Roman, Egyptian, or other empires in the Eastern Hemisphere. Physically, on today's map, it comprised the northern half of ...