Play a game inspired by Aztec and Mayan mythology

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.

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.

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.

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.

Learn to speak the ancient Aztec language Nahuatl

Across the Aztec Empire, you'd be met with variants of Nahuatl, the indigenous language still spoken by approximately 1.5 million people today. This free, self-paced online university course teaches the Veracruz variant, beginning from the language's "piltlahcuiloltzitzin"—or alphabet—to how to conduct specific "tlamachtiliztli" or ceremonies.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Aztec Empire ruled over 80,000 square miles of central Mexico for nearly a century—until a small band of Spanish conquistadors brought it down in 1521.

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.

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.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital

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.

The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan fell after a brutal 75-day siege.

Ancient Egyptians played Senet, a board game where players threw sticks or bones as dice.

A Maya creation myth begins with dwarfs

In the Popol Vuh—a foundational Maya creation text from Guatemala—an early age is marked by dwarves gifted with great vision and intellect. Their hubris led to destruction by flood, after which humans were created from corn with deliberately limited sight.

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.

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).

Tenochtitlan, the Aztec Venice of Mesoamerica

Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztecs, founded around 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, in what is today Mexico. It was a major political, economic, and religious center until its destruction by the Spanish in 1521. This video explores the marvels of the city, which began as an island but grew via causeways and in-filled land and culminating in a North American Venice.

The Valley of Mexico sits over 7,000 feet above sea level

Once dominated by the shallow waters of Lake Texcoco, the high-altitude Valley of Mexico—surrounded by volcanic peaks—was home to the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. This resource breaks down the region’s unique geography and why it became a cradle of Mesoamerican civilization.

Video games are helping to preserve cultural heritage sites, further archaeological study

When Carmen Sandiego swept onto the video game scene in 1985, the deluxe version of the game included historic photographs from National Geographic and music from the Smithsonian. Read this article to learn about the overlap between gaming and ancient architecture.

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.

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.

See a day in the life of an Aztec midwife

This illustrated story follows Xoquauhtli, a midwife in the Aztec Empire, as she juggles childbirth duties during the festival of Teteoinnan, navigating the tension between professional responsibility and participation in the empire’s religious ceremonies, including ritual sacrifice.

See how the elite warriors of the Aztec Empire trained

This video explores the Aztec military’s elite Eagle and Jaguar warriors, known for their courage and combat skills, and highlights their rigorous training regimen. It concludes with a workout routine modeled on their methods.

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.

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.

The Aztec Empire began as a three-city military alliance

The Aztec Empire emerged in 1428 when Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed the Triple Alliance, combining military power and tribute networks. This pact transformed the three city-states into a dominant regional empire that rapidly expanded across central Mexico.

New research challenges the myth that Montezuma peacefully surrendered to Spain

For centuries, historians claimed Montezuma II willingly ceded control to the conquistadors, and that later Aztec resistance was a rogue uprising. Evidence now shows no peaceful handover occurred, revealing a far more turbulent and contested encounter between the two warring empires.

A virtual reality experience of Machu Picchu

If you can’t make it to the Andes, this virtual-reality experience—created using 360-degree cameras, and 3D modeling and sound design—is the next best thing. It lets you explore all the site’s major landmarks, including the Sun Temple and the Temple of the Condor, while listening to the sound of the wind whipping through the ruins, birdsong, and audio commentaries from expert guides.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Get your hands dirty in this archaeology video game that's actually about archaeology

How many of us have played a video game with an archaeologist protagonist whose main idea of fieldwork involves spying, back flips, and destroying the historic sites they're meant to be preserving? Exactly.

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

Make these Aztec-inspired amaranth and honey skulls for Dia de los Muertos

On the Day of the Dead, ghosts enjoy earthly delights amid Mexican cemeteries. Baskets of sweet breads and tamales grace graves, while altars honoring the departed display hot chocolate and chicken legs. Hear from experts why this morbid day emphasizes the significance of offering foods loved by the dead. Intrigued? You can learn to make them yourself with recipes provided.

Play the Royal Game of Ur, one of the world's oldest known board games.

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.

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.

The Aztecs synced their solar calendar with a complex 260-day ritual cycle

Researchers have uncovered how the Aztecs aligned their agricultural solar calendar with a symbolic 260-day ritual calendar, utilizing celestial tracking and monuments. Evidence from ruins and writings explains why their new year corresponded to February 23 on the Gregorian calendar.

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.

Rediscovering the Inca Empire

In 1991, anthropologist Johan Reinhard was trekking up the snowy face of a dormant volcano when he came face to face with the mummified remains of a teenager who had been sacrificed to the Incan gods centuries earlier. The story of “Juanita the Ice Maiden” is just one of the riveting tales featured in this four-part series from the popular podcast "History Hit".

Human sacrifice in the Inca Empire

In the lands ruled by the Incas, mountain deities were well-respected and related summits were often selected as places for making the most important of all offerings — human sacrifices.

Go inside Queen Meresankh III's tomb

Examine art, explore the structure, and let yourself be transported back 3,000 years to when the granddaughter of the Pharaoh Khufu was buried. The site, first discovered in 1927, is known as a unique underground chapel with preserved depictions of the daily life of ancient Egyptian royals, and features one of the earliest known canopic jars, vessels used to store the organs of mummified individuals.

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.

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.