The Maya flourished in the forests of Guatemala and Chiapas, before the arrival of the conquistadors in the 16th century. According to the recent findings of a team of archaeologists in Guatemala, astronomy was more than science for them. …

Ancient Mayan and Chinese calendar systems share so many similarities, it is unlikely they developed independently, according to the late David H. Kelley, whose paper on the subject was published posthumously in August 2016. Kelley was a Harvard-educated archaeologist and epigrapher at the University of Calgary in Canada. He earned fame in the 1960s for…

KANASIN, Mexico—Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of an ancient Mayan city filled with palaces, pyramids, and plazas on a construction site of what will become an industrial park near Merida, on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The site, called Xiol, has features of the Mayan Puuc style of architecture, archaeologists said, which is common in the southern…

These eerie yet magical photographs show part of a worshipped Mayan world—a glimpse into the world’s longest underwater cave systems. Formed millions of years ago during the ice ages, these rare images show cenotes at the Rivera Maya in Mexico. Photographer and diver Martin Broen, from New York, captured these incredible scenes when diving in…