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.

在前古典时期中期（公元前 800-300 年），低地玛雅地区的一些地区出现了加剧的社会复杂性。尽管有关中期前古典时期复杂性的数据仍然非常薄弱，但米拉多尔盆地和其他地区可能已经形成了国家，这些地区表现出定居等级、中央集权管理和专业化的证据。然而，这些发展被前古典时期晚期（公元前 300 年至公元 200 年）从更具合作性的体系向更具竞争性的体系的转变所掩盖。单线思想将组织的这种变化与向更复杂性的转变混淆了。这种立场错误地认为神圣王权及其附属品是复杂性的基线。考虑到合作-竞争的振荡，根据古典时期的发展来判断中期前古典时期的复杂性是值得怀疑的。由于恰帕斯州、太平洋海岸、地峡和墨西哥湾沿岸地区之间的长期互动，玛雅地区的国家倾向于处于次要地位；和内部创新。需要新的数据来描述玛雅低地早期的复杂性。