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7000 BCE
6500 BCE
6000 BCE
5500 BCE
5000 BCE
4500 BCE
4000 BCE
3500 BCE
3000 BCE
2500 BCE
2000 BCE
1500 BCE
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7000 BCE - 2000 BCE: The Archaic Period in Mesoamerica during which hunter-gatherer culture moved toward agriculture.
2600 BCE: Mayan Culture buries their dead individually under homes.
1200 BCE - 300 BCE: The Olmec Period which saw the rise of the Olmec culture's work in stone, first major cities appear.
700 BCE: Tomb of Mayan King K'utz Chman of Retalhuleu constructed in Guatemala.
600 BCE - 800 CE: The Zapotec Period in which writing, mathematics, and astronomy were disseminated. Calendar developed.
331 BCE: Traditional founding date of Maya Copán.
200 CE - 900 CE: The Teotihuacan Period in which the city of Teotihuacan dominates as an important religious and cultural center.
250 CE - 900 CE: The El Tajin Period, so named for the great city of El Tajin. Urban centers proliferate and the game of Pok-a-Tok is developed.
250 CE - 950 CE: The Classic Maya Period which saw the height of the Maya Civilization in cities such as Chichen Itza, Palenque, Tikal, Copan and Uxmal.
320 CE: Traditional Maya founding date of Yaxchilan.
331 CE: Traditional founding date of Maya Copan.
378 CE: First contact between Teotihuacan and Tikal.
426 CE - 437 CE: Reign of the first named Copan ruler K'inich Yax K'uk Mo.
580 CE - 800 CE: Maya Yaxchilan flourishes.
615 CE - 683 CE: Reign of Kinich Janaab Pacal I or Pakal the Great, king of Maya Palenque.
682 CE - 734 CE: Reign of Jasaw Chan K'awiil at Tikal.
700 CE: The Maya city and temple complex of Chacchoben is built.
750 CE - 1200 CE: Chichen Itza flourishes in Yucatan, Mexico.
800 CE: The Maya city of Palenque is abandoned.
850 CE - 925 CE: Uxmal establishes itself as the capital of the Puuc region of Yucatan.
900 CE: Maya Tikal is definitively abandoned.
950 CE - 1524 CE: The Post-Classic Period in which the cities were abandoned and the region was invaded by the Spanish conquerors.
1524 CE: The Battle of Utatlan in which the last Maya resistance is crushed by the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado. Traditional date of the end of the Maya Civilization.
1562 CE: Diego de Landa, Bishop of the Yucatan, burns the books and images of the Maya outside the church at Mani.
1840 CE: The Maya civilization is discovered by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood who explore and document the ruins.