The ancient Maya developed a complex religious system centered on gods, ancestors, and the passage of time. During the Classic period, Maya society was organized into independent kingdoms that shared ...

Ancient Maya offerings found in Yucatán reveal new clues about early ritual practices, community life and public spaces.

Archaeologists excavating an ancient Maya pyramid have uncovered royal remains that appear to have been burnt in an apparent "act of desecration", and Newsweek spoke to the lead researcher about the ...

It’s well-known that the ancient Maya had their own version of ball games, which were played with a rubber ball on stone courts. Such games served not just as athletic events but also religious ones ...

Archaeologists have uncovered an intriguing ritual deposit below an ancient Maya ball court in Mexico—and it could indicate that the structure was blessed in a special ceremony. An international team ...

Ritual killing was a common part of religious sacrifice in the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá. For decades, media depictions cast the victims of these acts as young women and adolescent girls. In ...

Archaeologists discovered, through environmental DNA technology, that ceremonial rituals of the ancient Mayan civilization at the Yaxnohcah ruins (Yucatán Peninsula) were conducted with hallucinogens.

In 1946 a remarkable discovery deep in the Chiapas jungle revealed vivid Maya murals that transformed our understanding of the civilization. These paintings exposed a complex world of kingship, ...

The ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula has long been associated with human sacrifice, with hundreds of bones unearthed from temples, a sacred sinkhole and other ...

(The Conversation) — Broken mirrors can be associated with bad luck, but for the ancient Maya, a cracked mirror was often desirable. (The Conversation) — Some people fear that breaking a mirror can ...

A baseball player may tap his helmet three times before stepping up to the plate, and an Argentina supporter may burn incense in front of a portrait of Diego Maradona as the Albiceleste kick off. Now, ...

A team of Polish archaeologists diving in a possibly sacred lake in northern Guatemala has recovered hundreds of Maya artifacts, including ceremonial bowls and obsidian blades that may have been used ...