Mayan Glyphs - The classic period of Maya history was a period of spectacular achievements in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, architectural design, agricultural planning, and urban development. The Maya built cities larger than those of Europe and elegant pyramids rivaling those of Egypt. The Maya codices were folding books inscribed with colorful glyphs. The books, made from the bark of fig trees, recorded various aspects important to Maya civilization: astronomical tables, divination, almanacs, and other issues. In an attempt to subdue the Maya culture, the Spanish suppressed or destroyed the books; a few have survived. Maya writing is based on logograms, a written character is used to represent a word or morpheme. There are other Mesoamerican scripts, but the Mayan style, dating from 2,200 years ago, is the most highly developed.
