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How to Read a Maya Glyph
For over three centuries, the ancient Maya flourished in Mesoamerica. They built giant stone pyramids surrounded by dense jungle, used a calendrical system that made many believe that 2012 would be the end of the world, and created a writing...

Definition
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure or monument, usually with a quadrilateral base, which rises to a triangular point. In the popular imagination, pyramids are the three lonely structures on the Giza plateau at the edge of the Sahara Desert but there...

Definition
Ghosts in the Ancient World
A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one reason or another, either returned from the realm...

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K'inich Yax K'uk Mo
An incense burner thought to depict K'inich Yax K'uk Mo, the first Maya ruler of Copan. (Archaeological Museum of Copan, Honduras)

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The Caracol, Chichen Itza
The Caracol or Observatory of Chichen Itza, Mexico. Constructed prior to 800 CE, this Maya building was used as an astronomical observatory, especially of Venus.

Video
National Geographic Live! - Palenque and the Ancient Maya World
Archaeologists and National Geographic grantees George and David Stuart offer keen insights into the art and culture of the Mayans.

Definition
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan, located on the banks of the Usumacinta River in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico, was an important Late Classic Maya centre. The Maya dated the founding of their city to 320 CE, but Yaxchilan flourished between c. 580 and c. 800...

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Chichen Itza
The Castillo pyramid at the Maya (and possibly later Toltec) centre of Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. The pyramid was a temple built in honour of the Maya feathered-serpent god Kukulkan.

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Ball Court Wall & Goal, Chichen Itza
One of the walls and goals of the ball court in the Maya-Toltec city of Chichen Itza. 1050-1200 CE.

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Tikal Main Plaza
The central plaza of Tikal, Guatemala. The Maya city flourished between 300 and 850 CE. On the left is the North Acropolis whilst on the right is Temple I, the tomb of Jasaw Chan K'awiil (r. 682-734 CE).