The lush jungles of Mexico have revealed a hidden marvel: an ancient Maya city sprawling under centuries of dense growth.

The Maya never formed a traditional empire like the Incas or Aztecs, or at least not a long-lasting one. Rather, they formed a network of city-state kingdoms with different complex trade networks ...

“These findings challenge the traditional view that Maya cities — including their hinterland — were isolated city-states or regional kingdoms,” Morales-Aguilar said. Instead, they paint a ...

A sprawling Maya city with palaces and pyramids was discovered ... even in dense forest conditions in the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche. Archaeologists in 2018 uncovered a massive network ...

using the Yucatec Maya word for the stone columns found around the ancient city. The Mexican institute described the site, in Campeche State, as having once been a major center of Maya life.

Aristos is a Newsweek science and health reporter with the London, U.K., bureau. He is particularly focused on archaeology and paleontology, although he has covered a wide variety of topics ...

At the peak of its glory, around a.d. 750, Tikal was home to at least 60,000 Maya and held sway over several other city-states scattered through the rain forest from the YucatánPeninsula to ...

The downfall of Maya city states was also sparked by warfare and the 16th-century conquest of the region by Spanish invaders.