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History of Yucatan Peninsula


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of sporadic, but often intense, violence, a tentative peace was reached; however, it would be another 30 years before the territory of Quintana Roocame under official government control. To this day some Maya do not recognize that sovereignty.

The commercial success of Canc�n in the early 1970s led to hundreds of kilometers of public beach along the Caribbean coast being sold off to commercial developers, displacing many small fishing communities. While many indigenous people still eke out a living by subsistence agriculture or fishing, large numbers now work in the construction and service industries. Some individuals and communities, often with outside encouragement, are having a go at ecotourism, opening their lands to tourists and/or serving as guides.

The written history of Yucat�n begins after the Spanish conquest. In the distant past, 65 million years ago, a meteorite fell causing a global catastrophe that wiped out dinosaurs, along with other species on earth and formed the Chicxulub crater.

Prehispanic era

The origin of the first settlements has not been scientifically confirmed, although the presence of first humans in the area dates from the late Pleistocene or ice age (about 10,000 � 12,000 years), according to the findings in the Lolt�n caves and caverns of Tulum(Women of the Palms).

The first Maya moved to the Peninsula circa 250 CE, from the Pet�n (today northernGuatemala), to settle the southeastern peninsula in the modern Bacalar, Quintana Roo. In 525, the Chan�s (Mayan tribe that preceded the Itza), moved to the east of the peninsula, founding Chich�n Itz�, Izamal, Motul, Ek' Balam, Ichcaanzih� (modern M�rida) and Champot�n. Later, Tutul xi�es, Toltec descent, who came from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, settled in the region causing displacement of the Itza and Cocomes �a diversified branch of Itz�, and finally, after years and many battles, was formed Mayap�n League (composed of the Itza, the Xi�s and
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