their beginnings to the Olmec, "the people from the land of rubber" - a probable reference to the Gulf Coast (Gyles & Sayer). All aspects of Preclassic Mayan civilization trace back to Olmec roots. Nevertheless, as Olmec influence waned, the Maya quickly came to dominate the region and overlay ever more sophisticated refinements atop their predecessors' achievements. This "overlay" approach to development was to characterize Mayan civilization. When given the opportunity, new buildings were not simply made as extensions to existing ones; nor were they built as "competing" structures. Rather, when possible, new buildings - pyramids, temples, palace wings - were built on top of the existing structure (Aguiar, 1978). Indeed, it should be noted that archaeological studies of the Maya have undergone considerable revision of recent years because of this proclivity to build over the past. New site discoveries, re-examination of known sites, and reinterpretation of Mayan writing have led to reconsideration of a number of Cause-Effects of the civilization and its history (Becker, 1979).
Within that context of academic doubt, nevertheless, it has been postulated by the majority of researchers that Mayan civilization was founded upon an agricultural basis - with maize as the center of that foundation. The Mayan word for maize - "wa" - is synonymous with food itself; the maize god was honored from Preclassic times (von Hagen). Geography plays a major part in the Mayans perception of the agricultural process. Through the region runs a single major river system, the Apasion-Usumacinta and its many tributaries, plus a handful of lesser rivers. Waterways were the linking roads that forged the Mayan civilization. Unfortunately, droughts were frequent and of great intensity. The Maya never developed the wheel, nor its water-delivery technological offspring. Though half the region is rain forest, its thin soil cap over
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