Need help with a research paper

I have to write a research paper for an English class, and I'm having a hard time finding answers to my research question.

I want to find out why writing wasn't adopted from the Maya by other cultures, when there was a lot of cultural diffusion in Mesoamerica and the Maya influenced the other civilizations in the area and vice versa.

Does anyone have an idea of what I need to research in order to find out? So far I've researched the pictograph systems used in place of writing but none of the sources explain why the Aztecs, etc. used pictographs instead of true writing.

Thanks.

Do you know this old article about the origins of mesoamerican writings?

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.230...21101377223317

Even if it doesn't tell you anything about your question, newer articles citing it, might help you.

http://scholar.google.de/scholar?cit...iodt=0,5&hl=de

I would go for a search what we know or theorize about how the mayan writing system evolved. This might lead to some ideas. But your topic seems awfully complicated for an english class, might just be me not completly understanding the american school system, though.

EDIT: Be careful with this old article though. If you have to meet high scientific standards it can only be used as an anchor. It seems especially obvious that the research of mayan language/script made a huge development in the last decades.

Thanks for the help. Yea, I'm starting to fear I chose a topic that's too complex. The paper used as an example in the textbook was about the dangers of Online Social Networks. I plan on studying archaeology and and specializing in Mesoamerica so at least I'm having fun.