When news about Tenochtitlan (nowadays Mexico City), the capital of the Aztec Empire, started to reach Europe around the time of the conquest by the Spanish Conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés, the city was soon labelled the ‘Venice of the New World’.
A spectacular tomb associated with the ancient Zapotec civilisation has been uncovered on Cerro de la Cantera, in San Pablo Huitzo, Oaxaca, south-western Mexico. The burial was brought to the attention of archaeologists from INAH thanks to an anonymous report…
Monumental finds in Mexico Excavations at Aguada Fénix in Tabasco, south-east Mexico, have revealed a large complex that was constructed c.3,000 years ago, making it possibly the oldest Mayan monument ever discovered. The site was first identified during a LiDAR…
Investigations at Aguada Fénix, in the lowlands of Tabasco, south-east Mexico, are uncovering evidence of a vast ritual complex constructed c.3,000 years ago. The site was first discovered via LiDAR in 2017, and initial explorations uncovered a large artificial platform…
Obsidian was highly valued by many cultures across Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, including the Mexica (Aztecs), for its natural lustre and sharpness, which made it a perfect material for both highly polished ornaments and the production of tools. Analysis of obsidian artefacts…
Cave treasures In 2023, two speleologists exploring the Cave of Tlayócoc in south-western Mexico came across a collection of 500-year-old objects. Archaeologists from INAH investigated further, revealing that the assemblage consisted of 14 artefacts in total, including three engraved shell…
REVIEW BY JOSHUA T SCHNELL The decorated smiles of the ancient Maya, characterised by their carved, incised, and inlaid dental arches, have long fascinated those who have gazed on them, inspiring more than a century of scholarly research. Vera Tiesler…
REVIEW BY BRYAN R JUST Megan O’Neil’s Memory in Fragments provides a comprehensive and nuanced presentation of a topic the author has been exploring for years, namely the myriad ways the ancient Maya interacted with monumental sculptures over their long…
Surveying an area of remote Mexican jungle that was previously devoid of Maya sites has produced remarkable results. Ivan Šprajc told Matthew Symonds how he set about discovering lost settlements in an archaeological black hole.
DNA analysis of human remains from a mass burial at Chichén Itzá in Mexico is revealing new details about the ritual practices of the ancient Maya, as well as their genetic links to modern populations. In 1967, the remains of…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeological discoveries from around the globe.
The ancient Maya ballgame, known as pelota or sometimes pok-ta-pok, played an important ritual and symbolic role in the Mesoamerican culture.
Review by Eric Singleton It is a welcome departure to see a scholar stepping outside their regionalised field of study to offer an interconnected view of North American history that is not often discussed. This is what Timothy Pauketat, an…
During which time period did the Olmecs flourish?
The dates listed below may have changed since we went to print. Check the websites of the museums for the most up-to-date information and bookings.
The spider monkey was found along with a golden eagle, rattlesnakes, and artefacts made of jade, shell, and obsidian.
It portrays a ferocious Maya chief clad in a jaguar skin, with a jaguar’s head on his own, spearing an unfortunate captive. First seen by an outsider in 1946, the paintings are as close a reflection as you are likely to see of life in an elite Maya centre.
• Maya underworld: subterranean secrets in Mexico
• The many faces of feminine power
• Into the desert: a pioneering journey to Palmyra
• A pub crawl around Pompeii
• Archaeology on screen
• What the Romans did for Athens
Ancient DNA analysis has identified individuals of Indigenous Maya, European, and West African origin in the city's cemetery.
Southeast Mexico is rich in caves. This extraordinary underworld has influenced human activity for thousands of years. Now a project dedicated to understanding and preserving this realm is shedding new light on the archaeology of the Yucatán Peninsula, as Guillermo de Anda told Matthew Symonds.
The team believe that the head of the youthful god, depicted with delicate features, was ‘originally conceived as a beheaded figure’.
We have had a wonderful selection of entries for this year’s photo competition, with archaeological images that have taken us all around the world. Travelling from famous heritage sites to lesser-known local monuments, and from mountains and deserts to under…
Cave diving at the cenotes in Mexico is a magical experience, a never-ending labyrinth of tunnels filled with crystal-clear water where the only limit is how much gas you can carry. With no natural light, and the crazy speleothems (mineral…
What name is given to the now-submerged geographical feature which allowed early humans to gain access to the Americas?
The geochemical compositions of ‘the John Dee mirror’ were found to match obsidian from Pachuca
Dee used the polished mirror as a scryer to try to commune with spirits.
Five hundred years ago, the spectacular city of Tenochtitlan, power centre of the Aztec empire, upon which modern Mexico City was later built, fell decisively to the Spanish. The conquistador Hernán Cortés had entered the city in 1519 without much…
In 1906, local inhabitants were dismantling a structure at the site in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula for building materials when they uncovered a 13m- long wall emblazoned with brightly painted reliefs, thought to date to around AD 600-700.
A leading handbook of scripts and writing that runs to almost a thousand pages, The World’s Writing Systems (1996), edited by Peter Daniels and William Bright, contains scarcely any reference to the Aztec writing system of Mesoamerica. Wikipedia’s entry on…
Excavations in Mexico City have discovered a new section of the Aztec skull rack known as the Huei Tzompantli.
Buried beneath Mexico City lie the remains of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and its sacred centre. Lucia Marchini reports on an exhibition investigating wealth, worship, and empire in pre-Hispanic Mexico.
Ochre mining in Mexico Evidence for the mining of red ochre has been discovered in the now-submerged caves of Quintana Roo in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Dated to between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago, this is the earliest-known exploitation of this…
On the Maya road The first LiDAR study of the longest road in the Maya area has shed new light on settlement in Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula. The 100km- long Sacbe 1 was built in the 7th century AD and connected…
Long-held traditions evolve and gain new elements with every generation. Current World Archaeology's Carly Hilts travelled to Mexico for the Day of the Dead to find out more.
Alice Stevens ventures deep into the Mexican jungle where, surrounded by the echoing screech of howler monkeys, Calakmul rises above the canopy, and takes a stand as the most impressive Mayan temple remaining today.