The areas dominated by the Maya are known today as the states of southern Mexico: Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco. The Mayan civilization spread through the nations of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. A vast expanse of city-states that ruled the area connected by trade routes. Descendants of the ancient Mayan civilization live today on the Yucatán Peninsula in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. with each other in the region has led to a high degree of cultural interaction between them. The consistent interaction between Mesoamerican civilizations within the region created a cultural diffusion that allowed Mesoamericans to make church and state one. They considered the gods to be the day-to-day rulers of their daily lives and depended on their priests and rulers to ensure that the gods were appeased and did not destroy the earth or extinguish the essential life that supported the sun. The Mayan religion required a very complicated method of worship that required bloodletting and sacrificial rituals that were often performed by kings and queens. These efforts were necessary because it was believed to "feed" the gods. It was the sacred duty and responsibility of the ruler to often feed the gods with his own blood. They believed that their rulers had the power to enter and exit the body into the spirit world and acted as messengers to the celestial world. Geographically, the Maya individually formed as independent city-states. They used a government structure that allowed individual rulers a great deal of individual rule within their own municipalities, instead of a strong centralized government structure ruled by an emperor or emperor. These settled groups became more developed as they exploited the abundant local resources. These now settled groups progressed into the Archaic period and began to advance into a more complex society. These archaic settlements developed a culture and technology shared with nearby settled groups. The exchange of ideas between these groups developed into a shared culture that began to develop into a culturally distinct people. The Mayan civilization originated in the Yucatán region during the Preclassic period around 2000 BC. There is debate as to when the Preclassic period began for the Maya. Its beginnings are believed to date back to 2600 BC, while it is argued to be earlier because there are permanent Mayan settlements along the Pacific coast that date back to 1800 BC. A difference of eight hundred years, depending on the region. The Preclassic period begins where the first signs that the Maya can be recognized as a distinct people begin. The two time periods overlap due to the fact that different groups in the region gradually moved from being a separate, archaically developed people to adopting local culture and technology that were distinctly