Maya Codices

Timeline

1. c. 250–900Petén lowlands · PeténMaya city-state elites made folding books from amate bark paper, recording the Long Count, Venus cycles, royal lineages, and ritual procedures; murals and ceramic texts also reflect the codex's central place in courtly knowledge.
2. c. 900–1521Chichén Itzá–Mayapán cultural sphere · Yucatán PeninsulaPostclassic codex production centered in Yucatán; the three surviving pre-Columbian codices (Dresden, Madrid, Paris) mostly date from the 13th to 15th centuries, with content focused on astrological calendars and ritual divination.
3. 1521–1562Maní (Yucatán) · Yucatán PeninsulaSpanish missionaries burned codices en masse on the grounds that they contained 'superstition'; in 1562 Diego de Landa presided over a book burning at Maní, claiming in his own account to have destroyed thousands of volumes, with only a few hidden by Maya or sent abroad.
4. 1562–1697European collections and Tayasal, Petén · GuatemalaThe Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices passed through various hands into European museums, becoming key material for deciphering Maya script; after the fall of Tayasal in 1697, independent Maya polities and the native codex-writing tradition ended. In the 20th century, scholars using codices and inscriptions finally completed the decipherment of most Maya hieroglyphs.