In the Neolithic Age, Maya society has contributed to the fields of astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, art and writing.^[2] They are people who excelled in these areas. Most of the great cities of the Maya were abandoned by A.D. 900.

The Maya lived in Mesoamerica, concentrated in the Yucantan Peninsula, the Peten district of northern Guatemala and southern Mexico. The Maya reached the height of their civilization during the Classic Period of Maya civilization (A.D 250 to 900) before a decline starting about 900 AD.^[3] The Maya Civilization, centered in these tropical lands, reached their peak of power and influence around the sixth century. ^[4]

The Maya practiced body modification,^[5] including cranium modification, dental modification, skin modification and piercings. The Maya valued individualism through body modification.^[5] Body modification sometimes reflected one's political status, a cultural belief that body modification may ward them from evil spirits, impersonating important cultural figures and to signify important events that have happened through one's life.

The Maya were known to engage in warfare to procure nearby resources, assert political control over neighbors, procure slave labor and sacrificial victims for rituals. Warfare in Maya society was frequent.