Maya art, here taken to mean the visual arts, is the artistic style typical of the Maya civilization, that took shape in the course the Preclassic period (1500 BC to 250 AD), and grew greater during the Classic period (c. 200 to 900 AD), and went through a Postclassic phase until the upheavals of the sixteenth century destroyed courtly culture and put an end to their artistic tradition. The Olmecs, Teotihuacan and the Toltecs have all influenced Maya art. Traditional art forms have mainly survived in weaving and the design of peasant houses.
