Wikimedia CommonsMesoamericaLiving culture
Maya
The Maya civilization of Yucatan, Guatemala, and Belize — from the Popol Vuh to the living Maya today.
The Maya civilization spans over 3,000 years, from the Preclassic period to the present day. Over 6 million Maya people live in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador today. Their mythology — the Hero Twins, the World Tree, the vision serpent — is preserved in the Popol Vuh and in living oral tradition. Their astronomical knowledge and writing system remain among the most sophisticated ever developed in the Americas.
3 entries mapped
Wikimedia CommonsMayaLivingUNESCOTemple / Ruins
Chichen Itza
The Maya city where the feathered serpent descends the pyramid at every equinox
Merida, Yucatan, MexicoRead more
Wikimedia CommonsMayaMythUNESCOTemple / Ruins
Palenque
The Maya city in the Chiapas jungle where K'inich Janaab Pakal was buried inside a pyramid with a sarcophagus lid depicting his descent into the underworld
Villahermosa, Tabasco (90 miles north), MexicoRead more
Wikimedia CommonsMayaMythCave / Underworld
Cenote Ik Kil
A cathedral-sized sinkhole near Chichen Itza where vines fall 85 feet to turquoise water — one of the Yucatan's ancient portals to the underworld
Valladolid, Yucatan (25 miles east), MexicoRead more