Intensified social complexity emerged in some parts of the lowland Maya region during the Middle Preclassic period (800–300 BC). Though data for Middle Preclassic complexity remain very thin, states may have formed in the Mirador Basin and other areas that exhibit settlement hierarchy, evidence of centralized administration, and specialization. However, these developments have been obscured by a shift from a more cooperative to a more competitive system during the Late Preclassic period (300 BC–AD 200). Unilinear thought has confused this change in organization with a shift toward greater complexity. Such positions incorrectly assume that divine kingship and its accouterments are a baseline for complexity. Judging Middle Preclassic period complexity according to Classic period developments is dubious given the cooperative–competitive oscillations; the tendency in the Maya area for states to have been secondary with longstanding interactions among Chiapas, Pacific Coast, Isthmian, and the Gulf Coast areas; and internal innovations. New data are needed to characterize early complexity in the Maya lowlands on its own terms.

在中前古典时期（公元前 800-300 年），低地玛雅地区的某些地区出现了加剧的社会复杂性。尽管关于中前经典复杂性的数据仍然非常稀少，但可能在 Mirador 盆地和其他地区已经形成了具有聚落等级、集中管理和专业化的证据。然而，在前古典时期晚期（公元前 300 年至公元 200 年），从更加合作的体系向更加竞争的体系转变，这些发展被掩盖了。单线性思想将这种组织变化与向更复杂的转变混为一谈。这样的立场错误地假设神圣的王权及其装备是复杂性的基线。考虑到合作-竞争的振荡，根据古典时期的发展来判断中前古典时期的复杂性是值得怀疑的；由于恰帕斯州、太平洋沿岸、地峡和墨西哥湾沿岸地区之间的长期互动，玛雅地区的各州倾向于次要；和内部创新。需要新的数据来描述玛雅低地的早期复杂性。