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Show I Near-Perfect Calendar A thousand years before Columbus Colum-bus discovered the New world, there existed a civilization in Central America that was the most advanced ad-vanced in the Western hemisphere prior to the coming of Europeans. But only within the last 40 years have the achievements of the Mayas been fully appreciated. The civilization civiliza-tion had reached its peak and declined de-clined before Spaniards reached Mexico. Modern archeologists have uncovered uncov-ered ruins of magnificent cities Chichen Itza and Mayapan discovered discov-ered sites of palaces and temples, artificial reservoirs and paved highways. high-ways. Mayan inscriptions are now decipherable, provide a written record rec-ord of this great race. Mayan culture centered in Yucatan. Yuca-tan. Although the Mayas and Aztecs Az-tecs are believed to have a common ancestry, the Mayas far surpassed the people Cortez conquered in Mexico. Mex-ico. Civil strife, resulting in destruction de-struction of their cities, ended the glory of this early American people. |