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271:. In addition to these minerals, fertile landscapes were created by large amounts of rainfall during the rainy season of the Guatemalan Highlands(May-December). Canals were built and maintained to use a raised field system of agriculture that took advantage of the ecology of the landscape. Households grew their food in open areas and the surplus of these agricultural products was traded in community markets.
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near these lakes, which sometimes were ritual pilgrimage places for the Maya. The lakes were popular sites to live by, as they made water more accessible to the Maya. Many birds were trapped by the Maya for their feathers in the
Highlands. These feathers were traded and used in headdresses, crests,
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compared to the surrounding lowlands and
Pacific coastal plains. Their annual temperatures fall between 15° and 25°C. In this climate, there are typically pronounced rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season lasts from May to November, with the heaviest rainfall happening in June and October.
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The
Guatemalan Highlands were a significant source of raw materials for the Maya society; farming and agriculture dominated the region. The highlands provided the Maya with various minerals which were culturally important including jade and
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is varied by terraces, ridges, and underfalls. Its general configuration is compared by E. Reclus to the appearance of "a stormy sea breaking into parallel billows". A range called the Sierra de Chamá travels eastward towards
301:, which likely originated in the Highlands. Over time, various dialects of the language separated spreading across the rest of the Maya area. They were also significant because of their large lakes, or more specifically, the
282:. The lowlands are often considered the center of the Maya society, but it is important to recognize that the Guatemalan Highlands also provided a vital source of agricultural products sustaining the Mayan population.
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The
Highlands lie between 6360 ft and 13780 ft and are made up of a series of high valleys enclosed by mountains. There are volcanoes which are both active and extinct. The local name for the region is
147:, which is about 290 km (180 mi) in length, and navigable about 32 km (20 mi) above the river-port of Telemán. A vast number of streams, among which are the
131:, whose principal head stream is called the Rio Grande, has a course of about 400 kilometres (250 mi), and is navigable to within 140 km (90 mi) of
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In the
Highlands, various fruits, vegetables, flowers, and coffee were traded throughout the Maya society. The Maya had maize fields that were called
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123:. In addition to the streams which break through to the Pacific, a number of larger streams which drain to the Gulf of Mexico or the
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and capes, as well as to decorate shields, spears, scepters, canopies, fans, and clothing, as they were a sign of elite status.
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The
Highlands were significant to the Maya for a variety of reasons. First, at one point, there was only one Mayan language,
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is a land-locked basin encompassed with lofty mountains. About 14 km (9 mi) south of
Guatemala City lies
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The relief of the mountainous country which is north of the
Highlands and drains into the
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258:. They rose to importance around A.D. 250 and then declined beginning around A.D. 850.
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One of the prevalent groups which has been present in the
Guatemalan Highlands is the
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rivers drain west into the
Chiapas Depression and from there into the Gulf of Mexico.
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425:"Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy"
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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and is connected by low hills with the Cockscomb Mountains. The
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slope actually rise in the highlands pushing through the
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is visible as a distant cone in the centre of the photo.
143:, an arm of the Caribbean. Of similar importance is the
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An important Pre-Maya site located in the Highlands is
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A panorama of the Guatemalan highlands is shown near
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Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 5: Middle America
111:at the bottom of deep ravines. A large river, the
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135:which is situated on one of its confluents, the
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96:and Guatemala, the frontier is formed by the
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127:have their sources in the highlands. The
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390:Peregrine, Peter; Melvin, Ember (2002).
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364:. London; New York: Thames & Hudson.
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396:. Boston, MA: Springer. pp. 69–81.
360:Coe, Michael; Houston, Stephen (2015).
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183:and its tributaries the
485:Regions of the Americas
468:Encyclopædia Britannica
262:Farming and Agriculture
43:lowlands to the north.
37:Sierra Madre de Chiapas
35:which lies between the
490:Geography of Guatemala
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47:Geographic description
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423:Kapusta, Jan (2016).
286:Cultural significance
80:rivers. A third, the
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39:to the south and the
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225:Siete Orejas volcano
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70:Sierra de Santa Cruz
29:Guatemalan Highlands
407:Universal Geography
82:Sierra de las Minas
98:Sierra de MerendĂłn
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256:Maya civilization
243:temperate climate
229:Tajumulco volcano
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435:(1): 25–41.
299:Proto-Mayan
292:Kaminaljuyu
479:Categories
334:References
269:serpentine
189:San Miguel
500:Highlands
463:Guatemala
316:Altiplano
201:Amatitlán
175:into the
33:Guatemala
362:The Maya
310:See also
181:Grijalva
153:LacantĂşn
94:Honduras
78:Sarstoon
76:and the
74:Polochic
61:Atlantic
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237:Climate
173:Tabasco
169:Chiapas
165:Mexican
105:Pacific
90:Motagua
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409:, ed.
280:manioc
276:milpas
227:. The
185:Cuilco
179:. The
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149:Chixoy
113:Chixoy
66:Belize
54:Altos,
157:Ixcán
41:Petén
187:and
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