The Maya civilization, known for its intricate calendar systems, monumental pyramids, and advanced writing, represents a high point of human achievement in the ancient Americas. Yet, around 900 CE, ...

For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?

As the son of archaeologists, National Geographic Explorer David Stuart spent his childhood wandering ancient Maya ruins—and helped shape what we know about the civilization today.

Inside the Classic Maya collapse: caves, cities and a fragile rain regime The Classic Maya built a network of cities that flourished for more than 3,000 years, with achievements in astronomy, ...

Map of Mayapan. a, Layout of the city showing housing complexes, the defensive wall, formal gates, and the locations of skeletal samples (red dots). b, Gate and wall configurations adapted from prior ...

There are a lot of things that didn’t kill the Mayans: asteroid strikes, planet-wide quakes, global cataclysms prophesied by shamans and etched into ancient calendars. What did wipe them out was ...