Maya go way back (Pre-Classic period 1500 BC -300 AD)

The ancestors of the Maya crossed the Bering Strait at least 20,000 years ago (although that is a widely debated statement - maybe they came by boats, who knows). They were nomadic hunter-gatherers. Evidence of settled habitation in Mexico is found in the Archaic period 5000-1500 BC (corn cultivation, basic pottery and stone tools).

The first true civilization was established with the rise of the Olmecs in the Pre-Classic period 1500 BC -300 AD. The Olmecs settled on the Gulf Coast, and little is known about them. They are regarded as the inventors of many aspects of Meso-American cultures including the first calendar and hieroglyphic writing in the Western hemisphere. Archeologists have not settled the relationship between the Olmecs and the Maya, and it is a mystery whether the Maya were their descendants, trading partners, or had another relationship.

It is agreed that the Maya developed a complex calendar and the most elaborate form of hieroglyphics in America, both based on the Olmec's versions.

The Boy Who Wouldn't Obey : A Mayan Legend Chac the rain god deals with a mischievous mortal boy.