National Geographic archaeologist George E. Stuart reported in 1975 on the scientists who sought to decode the ancient language—and the looters who stood in their way.

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?

In the heart of Belize, archaeologists have uncovered a royal tomb that changes what’s known about Maya history. This burial, hidden beneath the ruins of Caracol, belongs to Te K’ab Chaak—the city’s ...

New research suggests that explanations based only on climate may not fully account for the major decline of the lowland population in Central America and calls for a reassessment of those assumptions ...

More than a thousand years ago, astronomers from the Maya civilization developed one of the most sophisticated time-keeping systems in the ancient world—a system that could predict solar eclipses for ...

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. The ruins of the ...

Tikal’s great plaza, at the heart of what was one of the most powerful city-states in the Americas, is surrounded by monumental structures: the stepped terraces of the North Acropolis, festooned with ...

The Mayan mythology gods and goddesses are filled with rich history, rituals, and mysteries — some of which we still uncover today — and some of which you can see in sculpture form when you visit the ...