which script did they use?
Logosyllabic script
Maya civilization
The basic unit of Maya logosyllabic text is the glyph block, which transcribes a word or phrase. 
how far back can we trace the mayan culture As far as circa 2000 BC what period of history is that? The Archaic period where were they located? The civilization encompassed areas of south-eastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. did they practice politics? Yes, there were states and chiefdoms which had fluctuating policies towards one another. did they have societies? The society was hierarchical with a sharp difference between the elite and the commoners. did they fight with each other? Yes, clashes were common between states and chiefdoms. what kind of warriors were they? Well trained, and in the Contact period, their armies were highly disciplined where warriors participated in regular training exercises and drills. did they practice trade as well? Yes, and control of trade routes or access to important trade goods contributed to the growth of cities. describe their merchants? Not much is known about them, but it seems that at least some were members of the elite who engaged in long distance trade, while the majority belonged to the middle class largely involved in local or regional trade. did they have market places? Archaeologists have found traces what could have been formal arcade style masonry architectures and foundations of market stalls; and the Spanish colonialists have written about encountering a thriving market economy. can you please describe their buildings Mayan buildings included pyramids and temples, along with large elite residences which took time and heavy manpower to construct, as well as more modest commoner's huts. what materials did they use to build them? The earliest cities were built using stone and some perishable materials, but in later periods, they used limestone, sandstone, lime based cement or fired bricks depending on availability. did they have palaces? Yes, some of them adorned with sculptures. which languages did they speak? From the Preclassic period onwards, some of the language groups included Huastecan, Tzʼeltalan-Chʼolan, and Yucatecan among others.
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Maya civilization [SEP] Logosyllabic script
The basic unit of Maya logosyllabic text is the glyph block, which transcribes a word or phrase. The block is composed of one or more individual glyphs attached to each other to form the glyph block, with individual glyph blocks generally being separated by a space. Glyph blocks are usually arranged in a grid pattern. For ease of reference, epigraphers refer to glyph blocks from left to right alphabetically, and top to bottom numerically. Thus, any glyph block in a piece of text can be identified. C4 would be third block counting from the left, and the fourth block counting downwards.