Who were the mirror-bearers of ancient Mayan civilization?

Experience Maya culture through art—both ancient and modern

This gallery showcases how Maya culture endures through both ancient monuments and modern artistic expressions, tracing visual traditions from pre-Columbian carvings and murals to contemporary works created by Maya artists.

A Maya creation myth begins with dwarfs

In the Popol Vuh—a foundational Maya creation text from Guatemala—an early age is marked by dwarves gifted with great vision and intellect. Their hubris led to destruction by flood, after which humans were created from corn with deliberately limited sight.

A collection of ancient Mayan glyphs and pictographs

The Maya had a syllabic and pictorial writing style that featured many incredibly detailed glyphs. Click here to check out this ancient writing style (and maybe test out their related phonetic sounds).

Maya jade earflares were believed to open pathways to the divine

Carved from rare, hard-to-work jadeite, Maya earflares symbolized vitality and timelessness. Seen as living objects, they were believed to act as portals between the human and supernatural worlds, making finely crafted examples especially prized.

The Maya played a ballgame that symbolized the conflict between good and evil

Played on I-shaped courts across Mesoamerica, the Maya ballgame was a ritualized sport tied to cosmic struggle. Contrary to popular belief, the game did not involve mass sacrifice or basketball-style scoring.

The Maya believed every person is born with a spirit companion

In Maya belief, each person is linked to a spirit or animal companion associated with one of the 20 sacred calendar day signs. Enter your birthday and discover your companion, which is believed to reflect your personality traits.

The history of skull modification

The ancient Maya people sometimes modified their skulls to appear more conical. Body modification has been a human pastime for literal ages, from piercings to bindings and everything in between. Modifying one's skull shape may have been a way to symbolize status, beauty, belonging, or belief. The health impacts of such practices are still debated. This article explores the history and health impacts of skull modification, also known as artificial cranial deformation.

Ritual Maya dental ornaments may have prevented tooth decay

Analysis of Maya dental sealants shows they used plant resins and gums—some derived from pine with antibacterial properties—suggesting gemstone tooth inlays may have helped reduce infection while serving ritual and symbolic purposes.

The Maya built their cities with advanced engineering

Maya cities featured pyramids, palaces, causeways, ball courts, and water-management systems that were engineered to support large populations—often tens of thousands—without the use of metal tools, draft animals, or wheeled transport.

How women ascended the ranks in the highstakes world of Maya politics

Two bloodlines attained near total supremacy of the Maya civilization in contemporary central America: the lords of Tikal and the Kaanul Dynasty. The Kaanul, or snake, dynasty often used marriage to expand their empire, wedding their sorcerer queens to low-ranking rulers of desired lands. Read this Archaeology Magazine article to learn more about these Maya snake queens.

Homer's warrior tales were loosely based on the Mycenaean civilization

The great eighth-century BCE poet Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" portray a great warrior culture based in large palaces around the Aegean Sea in the Mediterranean. Historians and archaeologists have long believed Homer's stories were based on the Mycenaean civilization, which flourished several centuries before his time.

See how the elite warriors of the Aztec Empire trained

This video explores the Aztec military’s elite Eagle and Jaguar warriors, known for their courage and combat skills, and highlights their rigorous training regimen. It concludes with a workout routine modeled on their methods.

Is the Inca maiden the world's best-preserved mummy?

Found atop a snowy peak in the Andes, this teen mummy is at least 500 years old. Watch this four-minute video to see the Inca maiden, a mummy so well-preserved that small details, such as her many braids, are clearly defined.

Here's how early humans lived

Explore the evidence of early human behavior—from ancient footprints to stone tools and the earliest symbols and art – along with similarities and differences in the behavior of other primate species.

The Royal Game of Ur, which dates back as far as 2600 BCE, is believed to be one of the oldest board games in the world.

Medieval elites prized narwhal tusks as mythical “unicorn horns”

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, narwhal tusks were believed to be unicorn horns, possessing healing and anti-poisonous properties. Coveted by Europe’s elites, they became royal gifts—with one even presented to Queen Elizabeth I by explorer Martin Frobisher.

The mysterious qualities of obsidian and magnetite

Obsidian is a dark volcanic glass created when lava cools quickly and frequently contains magnetite, a key early mineral used in compasses. Large deposits were discovered and used in central Mexico by the Toltecs roughly 1,000 years ago at the ancient site of Teotihuacan. This essay explores obsidian's cultural impact and the mysterious presence of magnetite in migratory birds.

La Catrina is Day of the Dead’s unofficial symbol

The image of the skeleton in a feather hat, satirizing women who chased European fashion trends, first appeared in 1912 on broadsides printed by José Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican artist. Today, she is the holiday’s most recognizable symbol.

Scholars argue Egypt's Great Sphinx depicts the pharaoh Khufu

Egypt's ancient marvel, the 66-foot, 4,500-year-old Great Sphinx, is believed to stand as a guard to the great Giza pyramids—or tombs—of pharaohs Khafre and Khufu. Archaeologists have long debated which of the two leaders' faces is on the great monument, the father (Khufu) or the son (Khafre).

Grieving primate mothers will carry dead infant for long after death—and others will comfort her

An examination of infant corpse carrying practices among non-human primate mothers found that 40 species of primate mothers will carry around their dead infant for days, weeks, or even months. In some cases, a grieving primate's group members would provide grieving support—hugging or staying close to mothers who experienced a loss.

Basquiat's crown appears throughout several works

The artist first used the crown in 1981’s "Red Kings," which placed crowns over two heads. He’d continue using the motif throughout his career, often to highlight important figures, many of them Black, whom he believed had been overlooked.

Matrilineal societies—where women led households—were common among Northeastern natives

Such societies also viewed women as leaders in spiritual matters. Both men and women held political roles as clan leaders and worked in tandem with an advisory council.

For the medievals, the moon was a versatile religious symbol

Within the distinct traditions of Christianity and Islam, the moon became a central metaphor and sign for religious teaching. For Christians, its light was used to explain Jesus' humanity with the light of the sun (divinity). For Muslims, the moon represented a cosmic longing for god.

Tombaroli steal precious items from ancient people's tombs in central Italy

The tombaroli, or tomb-robbers, raid ancient Etruscan tombs in the dark hours of the night to recover vases, statuettes, mirrors, ornaments, jewellery, and other objects in gold, bronze, and terracotta. Read a firsthand account of a tombarolo who made a living handing stolen items to middlemen who sold them to wealthy buyers abroad. The lives and practices of tombaroli are also explored in the 2023 film "La Chimera."

See the early concept art for 'Star Wars'

George Lucas asked artist Ralph McQuarrie to create reference images to help prospective producers understand his vision for the "Star Wars" universe, and drafted early versions of Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and other characters. You can check out a gallery featuring dozens of the images below.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.