Having achieved a certain stability, the Mayan civilization rushed to new heights of sophistication and extravagance. Archaeologists, who studied the life of the ancient Maya, were deeply impressed by their achievements and admired them. Michael Coe considers the period known as "classical" as the highest point of historical development of Central America.
"For six centuries, from 250 to 900 AD, the ancient Mayans, especially those living in the central regions, reached intellectual and cultural heights with which no one in the New World could compare. The classical period was a kind of golden age in the history of the Maya".
The population inhabiting the main cities, suburbs and rural areas was rapidly increasing. Trade in everyday items (e.g. products and fabrics), as well as ornamental minerals, especially jade, flourished in the Mayan centres. The art of nephrite carving reached perfection.
The intellectual achievements of the classical Mayan period were also impressive, especially in the fields of astronomy and mathematics. In Chichen Itze, an observatory was built on the Yucatan Peninsula to observe the movement of the Sun and the planet Venus. Maya closely watched the Sun, Moon, Venus and Jupiter and calculated their mutual position with such accuracy that they could predict eclipses. Such complex calculations required the presence of a developed mathematical system, and here the Mayans also achieved remarkable success.
Of the great Mayan cities of the classical period, the best studied is Tikal, located in the southern lowlands, where an area of six square miles is about 3000 different structures, from the huge temples, the pyramids (one of them reaches a height of 230 feet, and its weight is estimated at 150,000 tons) and palaces with hundreds of rooms to tiny platforms, on which once stood wooden huts with straw roofs. The size of these "ordinary" buildings increases as we approach the ritual centre of Tikal, indicating that having a good house in the centre was important for the Mayan "middle class". The population of Tikal is estimated to have reached 90,000, the vast majority of whom were peasants and artisans who provided for the needs of the ruling class.
The most famous of all Mayan rulers was undoubtedly the "solar lord of Pakal", who lived in Palenque, on the western tip of the ancient Mayan world (present-day central Mexico). In the late 1940s, the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Rus Lullier explored the Temple of Inscriptions, which rests on a 65-foot stepped pyramid. He was interested in the stone on the floor of the temple, which was drilled a double row of holes, covered with removable stone plugs. When the stone was raised, a hidden staircase leading under the temple was opened. This disguised passage, which went 70 feet into the depths of the pyramid, was clogged with crushed stone, which took two years to clear. Eventually Ruth and members of his team of archaeologists excavated a huge triangular slab in front of which stood a stone box with ceramics and precious jewelry made of jade, shells and pearls. Nearby were the bodies of half a dozen young men - perhaps sacrificed along with the contents of a stone box.
On June 15, 1952, a massive slab was pushed back and archaeologists entered the crypt. In the middle of the room stood a massive sarcophagus carved from a solid block of limestone and covered with bizarre carvings. Nine alabaster figures above human stature were attached to the wall, possibly symbolizing the gods or early rulers of Palenque. Ceramic vessels and trays dotting the tomb floor were placed there in order to guarantee the ruler the necessary comfort in the afterlife. There were also two alabaster heads removed from the statues somewhere in Palenque. Archaeologists assumed that these statues depicted the deceased ruler. Several stone axes placed on the cover of the sarcophagus, apparently, symbolized success in the battles.
When the stone coffin was opened, everyone saw the skeleton of a man with jade beads in his hands and another jade bead in his mouth. Next to the body there were two jade figures, a jade tiara, rings, ear pendants, a belt with jade plaques and a ritual hip bandage embroidered with jade beads. But the most amazing find was the mosaic nephrite mask with eyes of shells and obsidian, which was put on the face of the deceased. This magnificent mask was very similar to the two alabaster heads, which confirmed the guess of archaeologists.
Researchers had to wait until the mid-1970s, when there was a major breakthrough in the deciphering of Mayan hieroglyphic writing to find out the identity of the ruler Palenque, buried with such honors. Until then, he was considered a high priest, but when the texts on the walls of the Temple of inscriptions were deciphered, it turned out that they describe in detail the biography of "solar lord Pakal ("Hand Shield"). Born on March 26, 603 A.D.