The Maya civilization had one of the most intricate religious systems in the ancient world. From powerful gods like the maize god and the rain god Chaac to the complex calendar cycles and ancestor ...

It is believed to derive from the Mayan word “chiháan,” meaning ... surpassed only by maize and beans. In Tenochtitlán, the pre-Columbian version of Mexico City, between 5,000 and 15,000 ...

The Popol Vuh, the sacred text of the K’iche’ Maya (indigenous people of the Americas), narrates how the gods created humans from maize, the region’s staple food. To the K’iche’ people, animals are ...

Child sacrifice was thought to be rare in their culture. This chilling discovery suggests foreign invaders played a role.

F amous for its iconic pyramid and temples, the ancient Maya city of Tikal is no stranger to imperial conflict, having ...

An ancient altar has been unearthed that is believed to have been used to sacrifice children in an abandoned 'city of the gods ... interaction between the Maya of Tikal and the elite of ...

Such a design resembles other representations of a deity known as the “Storm God,” more common in Teotihuacan than Mayan art. Two bodies were buried underneath the altar – one probably an ...

Famous for its iconic pyramid and temples, the ancient Maya city of Tikal is no stranger ... Tikal altar suggests it relates to the ‘Storm God’”, who was associated with rain, fertility ...

Maize is a key crop in Nigeria and essential for food security. The new spatial simulations show that pest-related crop losses could range from 18% to 75% in the coming decades—more severe than ...

The face itself looks a bit like other depictions of a Maya deity called the “Storm God,” with somewhat almond-shaped eyes, a nose bar, and a double earspool. A rendering of what the altar ...