One of the major achievements of the Maya civilization was an introduction and development of an exceptionally refined writing system. In the history of that civilization, three basic periods may be distinguished: pre-classical (2000 yBP – 250 yBP), classical (250 yBP – 900 yP), and post-classical (900 yP till the Spanish Conquest). It is especially the classical period in which a tremendous development of Maya architecture and art took place. It is also in this period that a growing number of inscriptions were produced, though the first glyphs had occurred much earlier.
One of the greatest achievements of the Ancient Maya was a logo-syllabic writing system. The Maya left many glyphic inscriptions carved, incised or painted on different media. Unfortunately, from that rich scribal tradition only four manuscripts, known as codices, survived. They are painted on bark paper and contain, above all, almanacs with auguries. However, by looking at reports prepared by chroniclers during Colonial times, and documents transcribed in Mayan languages using the Latin alphabet, one can see that a variety of subjects could have been raised in lost codices.