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?

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

For nearly half a century, Dr. Anabel Ford — archaeologist, research scientist, and director of UC Santa Barbara’s MesoAmerican Research Center — has dedicated her working life to questioning ...