Mayas

Chichén Itzá is home to famous Maya structures such as El Castillo.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Find Elite Residences at Mexico's Chichén Itzá

The housing complex is the first discovery of its kind in the ruined Maya city

An image created using lidar data shows the structures at Aguada Fénix, in Mexico.

Mesoamericans Have Been Using a 260-Day Ceremonial Calendar for Millennia

New research has the earliest evidence yet of when the timekeeping guide was used to mark the seasons

Throne 1, KK'in Lakam Chahk (785)

Rarely Seen Ancient Maya Masterpieces Go on View at the Met

It's the first exhibition of its kind in the United States in a decade

The silver-screen version of Namor has a reimagined backstory, reigning over Talokan, a Mesoamerican-inspired underwater civilization, instead of the legendary Atlantis. 

The Mesoamerican Influences Behind Namor From 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'

The sequel to the 2018 Marvel blockbuster features a Maya-inspired antihero played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta

Researchers excavating a large wooden post

Cool Finds

Ancient Maya Salt Makers Worked From Home, Too

Archaeologists in Belize have found 1,500-year-old salt kitchens attached to workers' homes

Ruins of Tikal, where researchers found high concentrations of mercury 

Ancient Maya Cities Were Polluted With High Levels of Mercury

The concentrations at some dig sites could be hazardous for today's archaeologists

The depiction of a young Maya maize god is consistent with other portrayals of beheaded Maya deities. 

Cool Finds

1,300-Year-Old Corn God Statue Shows How the Maya Worshipped Maize

The deity was linked to renewal and creation in Mesoamerican culture

Construction workers stumbled on this Maya city while building an industrial park. 

Cool Finds

Construction Crew Stumbles on 1,400-Year-Old Ruins of Maya City

Researchers say the pre-Hispanic metropolis they call Xiol was once home to some 4,000 people

Researchers dated the skulls to between 900 and 1200 C.E.

Skulls Thought to Belong to Modern Murder Victims Actually Date to the Pre-Hispanic Period

Found in a cave in Mexico in 2012, the 10th- through 13th-century bones may have been displayed in a ritual tower of craniums

Archaeologists found the calendar fragment among a total of 249 pieces of painted plaster and painted masonry block. 

Cool Finds

Fragment of Oldest-Known Maya Calendar Discovered in Guatemalan Pyramid

A glyph representing "7 Deer" marks the earliest known use of the historical system—for now

New research shows that mass migration of ancient peoples from the south were essential to bringing maize cultivation to Maya communities in Central America. Scientists previously thought knowledge of farming techniques were shared by word of mouth between neighboring communities. 

New Research

New Study Finds Migrants Brought Maize to the Maya

DNA analysis of skeletal remains in Belize helps piece together how corn cultivation came to thrive in Central America

Reserachers descend into a Yucatan sinkhole to examine sacred Maya cacao groves. 

Researchers Now Know Where the Ancient Maya Planted Their Sacred Cacao Groves

Sinkholes across the Yucatan Peninsula provided perfect growing conditions for the plant, used as currency in the Mesoamerican civilization

Researchers have tentatively dated the canoe to between 830 and 950 C.E.

Cool Finds

Well-Preserved Maya Canoe Found in Mexico May Be 1,000 Years Old

Researchers discovered the boat and other artifacts linked to the pre-Hispanic civilization near the ruins of Chichén Itzá

Surveys yielded numerous burial sites along the planned train route.

Cool Finds

Thousands of Pre-Hispanic Structures Found Along Route of Controversial Railway in Mexico

Critics of the planned high-speed railroad point to its potential damage to archaeological sites and the environment

Of the 1,525 artifacts included in the show, 881 were recovered from abroad.

Trove of Artifacts, Many Recovered From Abroad, Traces 4,000 Years of Mexican History

A new exhibition in Mexico City features 1,525 objects linked to the Maya, Toltec, Teotihuacán, Aztec and Mixtec cultures

Construction of the pyramid, which stood 43 feet tall and roughly 130 feet wide, began within 5 to 30 years of the Tierra Blanca Joven eruption.

The Maya Built This Monumental Pyramid Out of Volcanic Rock

New research cites the colossal construction as evidence of the civilization's rapid recovery from a devastating eruption

Researchers estimate that ancient builders used roughly 226,085,379 square feet of rock, dirt and adobe to construct the three main pyramid complexes in Teotihuacán's city center. Pictured here is the Pyramid of the Sun.

Mexico's Ancient Inhabitants Moved Land and Bent Rivers to Build Teotihuacán

Architects of the Mesoamerican city transformed the landscape in ways that continue to impact modern development today, a new study finds

Archaeologists hope the flowers will shed new light on rituals conducted by the ancient residents of Teotihuacán.

Cool Finds

1,800-Year-Old Flower Bouquets Found in Tunnel Beneath Teotihuacán Pyramid

The well-preserved plants were likely used in a ritual ceremony

Alfredo Ramos Martínez, La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala, Oaxaca), 1940

Was La Malinche, Indigenous Interpreter for Conquistador Hernán Cortés, a Traitor, Survivor or Icon?

A new exhibition at the Denver Art Museum explores the legacy of an enslaved woman who aided Spain's conquest of the Americas

Archaeologist Sergio Grosjean points to ancient handprints that decorate the interior of a cave in Mexico.

Cool Finds

1,200 Years Ago, Maya Children Decorated This Hidden Cave With Handprints

Archaeologists discovered the remarkable art about two decades ago but only publicized their findings now

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