What Was The Mayans Most Remarkable Achievement? The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica over 3,000 years ago. About 500 years ago, they lived in isolation from the world. They would practice slash-and-burn agriculture. They raise crops like corn, beans, squash and others. Also they hunted animals very often to get meat. Around 250-900 CE there culture grew and they started building amazing cities. They had stone plazas, royal palaces, ball courts, and temple-topped pyramids. They used a writing systems that others used. They used a very complicated calendar that revolve around there everyday lives. They started to abandoned their cities and moved to highlands of Central America. Later on jungles started covering their cities. No one really know exactly