An ancient Mayan idol, referred to as a deity of death, was recently discovered in Mexico, officials said. Photo from Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia An ancient idol depicting a deity of ...

A representation of the young corn god was discovered in the Archaeological Zone of Palenque in Chiapas. (photo by Gibran Huerta, all images courtesy INAH) Already a member? Sign in here. We rely on ...

Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala City, Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes de Guatemala Showcasing almost 100 relief stone sculptures and painted ceramic vessels from museums across ...

ACHTUN TUNICHIL MUKNAL CAVE, Belize -- Xibalba was a Maya name for the underworld, home of the gods of death and disease. Caves, not the lofty pyramids left behind by the ancient Maya, were the ...

There are hundreds of caves in Belize that served as portals to what the Maya called Xibalba—home to ancient death gods, rituals, and extraordinary relics left behind. Accessible only by kayak or ...

At the same time, the Classic Maya would have implicated gods and their "divine" rulers for the collapse. In that way, their abandoned territories became thought of as chaotic, haunted places, and ...

(The Conversation) — The ancient Maya believed that everything in the universe, from the natural world to everyday experiences, was part of a single, powerful spiritual force. They were not ...

In this series, Lagniappe presents works from the collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art, with commentary from a curator. The monumental head of Hun Hunapu, the god of corn, depicts one of the ...