[piokoch]

That is not that simple. They never invented the wheel, the Maya calendar cycled over 5128, which is not really convenient, numeric system was also rather uncomfortable, strange numerals working in 19-base system (but they have invented zero). In addition to that they've invented sadistic religion with human sacrifices and their culture was very aggressive, what finally put Maya civilization to an end, as everyone around happily joined European conquerors to get rid of Mayans ASAP.

[alephnerd]

> In addition to that they've invented sadistic religion with human sacrifices and their culture was very aggressive, what finally put Maya civilization to an end, as everyone around happily joined European conquerors to get rid of Mayans ASAP

That was the Aztec, an entirely different culture from the Mayans. The Mayan Kingdoms lasted until 1697.

[selimthegrim]

Mayans also did sacrifice, but it was mainly PoWs/losers in battle or of ballgames

[Throaway195]

The Mayans and the Amazon cultures more generally have been shown to have created monumental walkways and structures that we are only now uncovering form the jungle growth via lidar. The idea that they were technologically backwards is far out of date.

[AngryData]

They had the wheel, they just didn't find many practical uses for it without having either beasts of burden or nice relatively flat paved roads.

Wheels are great if you have something stronger than a human to pull it, or you only have to move it a short distance, or if you have a hard paved road. But pulling carts or wagons or wheelbarrows through rough terrain or muddy roads with just human power is absolute trash and not worth the effort, and moving things over small short distances alone isn't worth the specialized labor and cost of making decent wheel and axle systems without machine tools.

If you are still unsure, ask yourself why hikers and campers don't pull a cart or push a wheelbarrow everywhere they go instead of using a backpack even though they can have ultra light aluminum construction with pneumatic tires and ball bearing axles. All the effort you would save by using a wheelbarrow on smooth parts of your path would be undone by just a handful of random sticks or rocks you run into with it along the way.