Page:History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas.pdf/26

Rh is 8.14.3.1.12. (about 50 A.D.). Although, as Mr. Morley points out, these are the earliest dates we know of from the Maya area, it is to be noted that they do not differ essentially from the more recent inscriptions. They ought, therefore, to be regarded as introductory to the historic period, and it may be assumed that they were themselves preceded by many decades of development during which the first attempts at writing were gradually elaborated until the extremely complex Maya hieroglyphics were evolved in the form in which we know them.

'''II. The Golden Age or Old Empire of the Maya''' (200-600 A.D.). This period extended, roughly, from 9.2.10.0.0. (210) to 10.2.0.0.0. In this time many cities rose, flourished, and fell. Of these Palenque, Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, Tikal, Seibal, Quirigua, Copan, and Nakum are some of the more important. Like Seibal on the east and Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan on the west, Tikal and Nakum were not far from the Peten region to which our attention will be chiefly directed. Indeed, Lake Peten lies in what is almost the geographical center of the area formerly occupied by the