Maya

The Calakmul lidar survey. Copyright, Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project and Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Credit: Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project and Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Following years of research, scientists from the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project, a University of Calgary-led interinstitutional and multidisciplinary research project, in conjunction with Instituto…

Large post being recovered from the Ta’ab Nuk Na. Credit: C. Foster, Louisiana State University Archaeologists working in Belize have found ancient Maya salt workers worked from home. …

Flags marking the sites of posts and other artifacts from the 1,200-year-old salt kitchen.Photo: McKillop et al., Antiquity 2022Recent excavations of submerged Maya salt kitchens off the coast of Belize indicate that their ancient workers lived on the sites and possibly worked in kin-based teams.The archaeological site is called Ta’ab Nuk Na, and it was in operation from 600 CE to 800 CE. It’s the largest of 110 submerged Maya sites in Paynes Creek, a nature reserve on Belize’ssouthern coast. Archaeological analysis of…

A Mayan temple at Tikal, in Guatemala. Photo: JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP (Getty Images)Ancient Maya cities like Tikal and Cerén were heavily polluted with mercury, according to recent analysis of soil from the sites. Exposure to the element may have been a health hazard for the Maya and could be a risk to archaeologists today, according to the team that studied the samples.The mercury likely seeped into the soil after being used for quotidian purposes, like painting houses and ceramics. The review of the mercury concentrations…

Painted cylinder vase depicting a foaming drink in a vase and tamales in a plate. Credit: Justin Kerr, mayavase.com, Kerr number: 6418 It was the money that grew on trees. Said to be a…

Toxic levels of a pollutant commonly associated with the wastes of modern industry have been uncovered amid the most unlikely of archaeological sites.Long before conquistadors from far-off lands introduced the decay of war and disease, Maya cultures were dusting the soils of their urban centers with the heavy metal mercury.The element's levels are so great in some areas, researchers are being advised to gear up to save their health."Mercury pollution in the environment is usually found in contemporary urban areas and…

Netflix’s latest comedy Do Revenge stars an ensemble cast of today’s most popular “teen” (because they’re all in their 20s in real life) stars. This new flick stars Camila Mendes, who is famously part of the Riverdale cast, and Stranger Things standout Maya Hawke, who committed to the film back in 2020. Both leading ladies were complimented for their performances by the critics, who also dug the nostalgia factor and the supporting cast. A cast that includes powerhouses like Sophie Turner, who you might know from a little…

Fans loved Maya Hawke and, Joe Keery’s characters Robin and Steve in Netflix hit series Stranger Things. And Hawke hopes for a spinoff with Joe. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the actress spoke about her relationship with her Stranger Things character and her hopes for the Hawkins gang moving forward. Hawke also teased that she is sure more beloved characters will die in the fifth and final season of the Netflix hit. Maya particularly hoped Robin, the multilingual, adventurous band geek she plays, is one of them.…

Aerial view of the elite platform and the 15 stemmed macroblades found in a cache. Credit: ©2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH. We stand in the open fields of Spanish Lookout, a modernized Mennonite farming community in Central Belize, looking at what remains of ancestral Maya homes. White mounds, the remnants of these houses, pock the landscape as far as the eye can see, a stark reminder of what existed more…

Maya people cremated their rulers and used the ashes to help make rubber balls that were used in ballgames, an archaeologist has claimed.The researcher and his team believe they've found evidence of this practice while excavating the Maya city of Toniná, in southern Mexico.Researchers refer to it as the "ballgame" as its rules and name may have changed over time.It was often played by two teams using a rubber ball on a capital I-shaped court.The game was popular across the Americas for thousands of years. Numerous ball…