Brant Gardner writes that the "eighteenth year of the reign of the judges" (Alma 43:3) falls in what is called the late Preclassic in Mesoamerican archaeology (200 B.C. to A.D. 200). The Maya portion of the Mesoamerican world at this time appears to point towards an increase in militarism. Our best information for Maya militarism will come later in the Classic, but the seeds of the Classic are firmly sown at the end of the Preclassic, and the wars of the Nephities and Lamanites may fit into general pressures that are visible from that time period. [Brant Gardner, "Book of Mormon Commentary," at [http://www.frontpage2k.nmia]. com/~nahualli/LDStopics/Alma/ Alma43.htm, p. 5]