Maya site that stretches approximately 650 square miles (1,700 square kilometers) and dates to the Middle and Late Preclassic period (roughly 1000 B. Related: What's hidden inside the ancient Maya pyramids? So, what made this region so enticing that the Maya would want to settle there in the first place?Ross Ensley, a geologist with the Institute for Geological Study of the Maya Lowlands in Houston, told Live Science in an email. © 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc