The Mayans Were A Modern Civilization In Many Ways
Three thousand years ago, the Mayans were a thriving civilization. They lived in ornate stone cities that were connected by a massive roadway network. In fact, it may be the first network of ancient stone highways ever built by mankind. It was not just huge stone temples that can be found in Mayan cities. The Mayans also built irrigation canals to help water their crops. They built dams to control local waterways such as rivers and lakes. Reservoirs held massive amounts of water. Such engineering projects require a large and complex society. Any civilization able to produce the engineers necessary to build such structures must have farms productive enough to produce a large amount of food. This surplus can then allow for the expansion of the division of labor through specialization, educational institutions to teach the engineers the math and construction skills inherited from generations past.