A Maya creation myth begins with dwarfs

The Maya were an ancient Mesoamerican civilization that built dozens of major cities across present-day Mexico and Central America.

Enter the Mayan underworld through this 3-mile cave

Discoveries in Belize's Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave suggest the cave was once a significant site for sacred Mayan ceremonies in antiquity. New research reveals how the Mayans conducted rituals to re-enact a specific creation myth, often staged in desperate times and aimed to invoke the gods for a "rebirth" amid drought and turmoil. Read more on the enigmatic research here.

The Maya played a ballgame that symbolized the conflict between good and evil

Played on I-shaped courts across Mesoamerica, the Maya ballgame was a ritualized sport tied to cosmic struggle. Contrary to popular belief, the game did not involve mass sacrifice or basketball-style scoring.

Who were the mirror-bearers of ancient Mayan civilization?

The Mirror-Bearer is a remarkable example of Early Classic Maya art, one of many discovered that were crafted from solid hardwood around 500 CE. The male figure is adorned in a knee-length woven skirt and shawl and once held a removable plaque, likely a mosaic mirror. It is a model of an actual Mirror-Bearer, likely a royal court dwarf, and depicts typical Maya courtly scenes. Learn more about the sculpture and its inspiration here.

How women ascended the ranks in the highstakes world of Maya politics

Two bloodlines attained near total supremacy of the Maya civilization in contemporary central America: the lords of Tikal and the Kaanul Dynasty. The Kaanul, or snake, dynasty often used marriage to expand their empire, wedding their sorcerer queens to low-ranking rulers of desired lands. Read this Archaeology Magazine article to learn more about these Maya snake queens.

Aztec mythology informs the Day of the Dead

The ancient people believed the dead journeyed to Mictlán, the Land of the Dead. To get there, they had to travel for four years through nine underworld levels, with the final being occupied by Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of death, and his wife Mictecacíhuatl.

The Maya built their cities with advanced engineering

Maya cities featured pyramids, palaces, causeways, ball courts, and water-management systems that were engineered to support large populations—often tens of thousands—without the use of metal tools, draft animals, or wheeled transport.

A collection of ancient Mayan glyphs and pictographs

The Maya had a syllabic and pictorial writing style that featured many incredibly detailed glyphs. Click here to check out this ancient writing style (and maybe test out their related phonetic sounds).

Play a game inspired by Aztec and Mayan mythology

This free online game, Descent of the Serpent, guides players through Mesoamerican myths as they challenge the god Tezcatlipoca. Along the way, it introduces monuments and artifacts with short explanations of their meaning in Aztec and Mayan cultures.

See ten of the most amazing Mayan ruins

Hidden beneath the jungles of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, Maya temples, pyramids, and cities reveal the civilization’s vast construction ambitions. Decades of archaeology have uncovered these sites, which are explored in detail in this guided video tour of 10 significant ruins.

Experience Maya culture through art—both ancient and modern

This gallery showcases how Maya culture endures through both ancient monuments and modern artistic expressions, tracing visual traditions from pre-Columbian carvings and murals to contemporary works created by Maya artists.

Maya writing was the first actual script in the Americas

The ancient Maya developed the Americas’ earliest complete writing system, which was preserved on ceramics, stone, textiles, shells, and in surviving texts. Though much was destroyed, the remaining artifacts offer a rare insight into Maya literary culture through a virtual tour

The Maya believed every person is born with a spirit companion

In Maya belief, each person is linked to a spirit or animal companion associated with one of the 20 sacred calendar day signs. Enter your birthday and discover your companion, which is believed to reflect your personality traits.

Ready to try reading some Maya hieroglyphics?

The Mayan hieroglyphic script was the only true writing system developed in the Americas prior to European colonization. Examples of the millennia-old script have been discovered on stone pillars, pottery, and texts known as codices. Here’s a Maya writing system study guide for the high achievers among us.

Maya jade earflares were believed to open pathways to the divine

Carved from rare, hard-to-work jadeite, Maya earflares symbolized vitality and timelessness. Seen as living objects, they were believed to act as portals between the human and supernatural worlds, making finely crafted examples especially prized.

Ritual Maya dental ornaments may have prevented tooth decay

Analysis of Maya dental sealants shows they used plant resins and gums—some derived from pine with antibacterial properties—suggesting gemstone tooth inlays may have helped reduce infection while serving ritual and symbolic purposes.

See a map of the Maya civilization and its major historical sites

This interactive map showcases the full geographic extent of the Maya civilization, highlighting major archaeological sites across Mexico and Central America. Explore where Maya cities once stood—and where their ruins can still be visited today.

The Aztecs worshipped a vast pantheon of more than 200 gods.

Cacao is a Maya word that survives today

In the 1980s, archaeologists finally deciphered Maya hieroglyphs in part by identifying known words. Maya scholar David Stuart notes that cacao—still used today—was one of the key linguistic anchors that unlocked ancient Maya texts.

The human cost of creating medieval monsters

The concept and creation of monsters have been used since time immemorial to communicate social norms and the consequences of breaking them. Some so-called monsters were judged as such solely due to having features that would be considered birth defects in modern times. This in-depth article explores the human cost of creating medieval monsters, many of whom were defined by a physical appearance that deviates from the expected.

Using AI to rewrite and revive Aztec tales

Despite being vanquished by the conquering Spaniards in the 16th century, the Aztecs' culture endured through their descendants and rituals, as well as texts that escaped destruction at the hands of the Europeans. These texts, known as codices and preserved in part by Christian monks, revealed intimate details of life as an Aztec in the Middle Ages. Today, AI programs allow students to learn the Aztec's language, Nahuatl, further preserving their heritage.

An Aztec skull whistle discovered in the 1990s was mistaken for a toy

In the late 1990s, archaeologists unearthed a sacrificed man clutching two skull-shaped clay whistles at a Mexico City temple to the wind god Ehecatl (eh-HEH-kahtl). Initially dismissed as toys, the instruments produce a scream-like sound that modern brain scans show triggers fear and urgency responses in listeners. This podcast explores the discovery.

Ceren: The Maya Pompeii (sans all the bodies)

The Maya village of Ceren in El Salvador was preserved by volcanic ash from 1,400 years ago, revealing insights into ancient Maya commoners' lives. Ceren villagers had autonomy in their daily activities, and excavations reveal evidence of communal decision-making and event hints at the presence of a community sauna. Dive into more of the archaeological finds on how businesses were run, how they prepared for disaster, and more.

Chichen Itza was one of the Maya world’s most powerful cities

Chichen Itza was a major religious, cultural, and economic center on the northern Yucatán Peninsula, attaining prominence between approximately 800 and 1000 CE. It was largely abandoned by the 13th century for reasons that are still debated today.

Guatemala's Day of the Dead tradition fills the sky with colorful kites

In a tradition that has lasted over 3,000 years, Guatemalans launch giant kites into the air on the eve of Day of the Dead. The colorful kites honor the dead and carry messages of hope, love and peace to the world.

Try counting like the Maya in this interactive math game

The Maya numerical system used dots for 1, bars for 5, and a shell symbol for zero. This interactive resource lets users practice counting with the Maya base-20 system using the same symbols once common in the Yucatán.

Hikers can walk through Maya routes on Mexico’s first long-distance trail

The Camino del Mayab is a 68-mile trail west of Cancún that follows ancient Maya paths and modern railways. Built in collaboration with local Maya communities, it promotes Indigenous culture, preserves heritage, and supports community-based tourism along the route.

Stonehenge has produced wild origin stories

Built before the wheel was invented, Stonehenge inspired increasingly fantastical explanations—from a 12th-century tale of Merlin and Nephilim giants to 1960s claims that aliens built it alongside the pyramids.

One researcher posed a theory that aliens played a significant role in human evolution

Researcher Zecharia Sitchin proposed that Sumerian cuneiform tablets revealed that Sumerian gods were aliens who landed on Earth in Mesopotamia and influenced the creation of modern humans. While his ideas gained cultural interest, they are widely rejected by mainstream scholars.

The Aztecs worshipped Mictecacihuatl, goddess of the underworld

Some elements from ancient festivals honoring Mictecacihuatl and other deities, like incense, skeleton imagery and marigolds, have been incorporated into modern Day of the Dead celebrations, possibly indicating that the holiday blends indigenous and Catholic traditions.

The 2012 Maya-predicted apocalypse didn't really stem from the ancient Mayans

On Dec. 20, 2012, fears of a Mayan-predicted apocalypse gripped Earth, causing panic in some parts of the world, including the stockpiling of vodka in Russia. In this podcast, Maya expert David Stuart—who helped translate some of the relevant Mayan texts—debunks the notion, arguing the Mayan calendar's end marked a cycle, not doomsday.

Athletes in Mexico are reviving a 3,000-year-old sacred sport

A modern team is working to revive Juego de Pelota, an ancient Mesoamerican team sport played by the Maya, Aztecs, and neighboring cultures. Once central to ritual and community life, the game was outlawed by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.

Explore the Mayan temple at Copan

Copan is a Mayan temple located in western Honduras, where Mayans dwelled for roughly 2,000 years. The acropolis there was abandoned in the tenth century but rediscovered in the 19th, and excavations of its many structures and tunnels continue to reveal more about Mayan history. Click through to tour its major temple and tunnels in this informative, impressive interactive.

Dreams have long been used for religious and political power.

The evolution of Mexico City, from the Aztecs to today

The sprawling modern city situated in the Valley of Mexico began a millennium ago as an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, connected to land through a series of causeways. Learn how the Aztecs built Tenochtitlan, how the Spaniards conquered it, why the lake disappeared, and more with this visually rich history and geography of a city of 9 million people.

Human sacrifice reinforced Aztec political control and religious belief

The Aztecs controlled a vast territory through military might and intimidation. One very key tactic of control was the ritual of human sacrifice. While an effective scare tactic, the ritual was also grounded in deeply held beliefs that the world was sustained by blood.

Fantasy is heavily influenced by myths, legends, and folk tales

In fantasy, anything is possible, mirroring the supernatural worlds of history’s earliest stories. The narrative voice of fantasy is often similar to early tales, too, with an affinity for the magisterial rather than the contemporary.

What were the Aztecs really like?

Does the society live up to its blood-thirsty stereotype? Archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma answers this question and more in this short article. Moctezuma was the principal excavator of the major Aztec archaeological site Templo Mayor in the 1970s. He shares how the culture grew from a combined emphasis on war and agriculture, and ruled one of the world's largest cities at the time.

Christmas elves evolved from Norse mythology to Santa’s workshop

Elves originated as powerful human-sized beings in Norse mythology, closely tied to nature and fertility. In the 1800s, American writers reimagined them as tiny, toy-making assistants for Santa Claus, with later visual depictions by Norman Rockwell and Disney solidifying their role in Christmas folklore.

Teotihuacán was already ancient when the Aztecs encountered it

By the time the Mexica reached Teotihuacán, the vast city had been abandoned for centuries. First settled around 400 BCE, the inhabitants developed monumental temples, canals, and a carefully planned urban grid centered on the Avenue of the Dead.

Watch a traditional Aztec fire-serpent dance rooted in Mexica mythology

This video captures a performance of a Xicauhuatl—or fire-serpent—dance, rooted in Mexica beliefs that these serpents carried the sun across the sky. The performance highlights the fire serpent’s central role in Aztec ritual and storytelling.

The history of skull modification

The ancient Maya people sometimes modified their skulls to appear more conical. Body modification has been a human pastime for literal ages, from piercings to bindings and everything in between. Modifying one's skull shape may have been a way to symbolize status, beauty, belonging, or belief. The health impacts of such practices are still debated. This article explores the history and health impacts of skull modification, also known as artificial cranial deformation.

The chemistry of ancient tacos

This 16-minute podcast explores the chemistry of Mesoamerica's corn tortillas, which involve a 3,500-year-old chemical process called nixtamalization that releases vitamins, including niacin, one of the essential B vitamins. This process also makes the tortillas softer and more delicious. Corn tortillas were a staple in Mesoamerica, and the archaeologist interviewed in this podcast argues cultures like the Aztecs and Maya wouldn't have thrived without nixtamalization.

Learn how the Egyptians, Romans, and other ancient civilizations worshipped the sun

In Egypt, the pharaoh was seen as the living embodiment of the son of Ra, the sun god. In Mesopotamia, the sun god Shamash was a divine judge whose light could reveal the truth. Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of sun and war, was thought to require sacrifices to prevent the universe's destruction.

A bird's eye view of Teotihuacan

Dubbed Teotihuacán or City of the Gods by the Mexica, this city was first inhabited in the 2nd century CE and ultimately became an important cultural landmark for the Aztec empire. Located roughly 30 miles north of Mexico City, contemporary ruins contain a 200-foot tall Pyramid of the Sun, ancient neighborhood grids, and more. Explore the city in this virtual helicopter tour.

While solar eclipses were considered ominous throughout history, multiple cultures explained the celestial event as the result of mythical creatures nearly consuming the sun.

Civilizations of the past mistook dinosaur fossils for dead mythological creatures

Without knowledge of evolution or extinction, people believed such fossils were the bones of massive animals no one had ever seen alive, including dragons and giants. It was not until the science of paleontology and studies of extinction that these ideas were overturned definitively.

See the path Spanish conquistadors took to conquer the Aztecs

Spanish expeditions reached central Mexico as the Aztec Empire was expanding its influence. After securing bases in the Caribbean, they advanced west into Aztec territory, triggering a cascading conflict depicted in this interactive map and timeline.

How the great city of Cusco came to be, according to the Inca

The chronicler Inka Garcilaso de la Vega recorded the origin story of the Inka (also spelled Inca) and the founding of Cusco, the capital of the society's great empire. Listen to the Inca origin story in this 4-minute video narrated by a child.

A cave painting might be the oldest illustrated story ever recorded

A nearly 44,000-year-old cave painting may be the oldest story ever recorded, offering viewers a tale of human-like creatures on a hunt. This article details the discovery of the cave and its archaeological implications.