Around 250 AD, groups of nomadic hunters and gatherers in and around the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico first began establishing complex societies that would eventually become the Maya civilization. Maya peoples were the only pre-Columbian civilizations to form a fully developed writing system, known as the Maya hieroglyphic script, and was significantly more advanced than many of their neighbors in the areas of art, architecture, mathematics and astronomy.
At its peak, mighty pyramids and enormous temples were lined up precisely with events taking place in the night sky and stone carvings celebrated their great leaders. How the Maya civilization ended is still something of a mystery. The mightiest civilization in the ancient Americas fell to ruin incredibly rapidly. They wrote of a thriving civilization in the ninth century AD, but after that, their records went silent.
It’s not clear how the Mayas met their end, but archaeologists continue to stumble upon the long-deserted City-States that were home to a vibrant people. Most recently, an incredible metropolis was discovered deep in the jungle of the Mexican state of Campeche. The cities were hidden in thick vegetation and could hardly be reached.
