Saturday, 19 November 2011

FOR KIDS: Digging into the Maya mystery

In a Central American jungle, archaeologists and volunteers uncover ruins of the once-powerful civilization

Web edition : 11:31 am

In the jungles of Belize, near the southern border of Mexico, rise giant stone pyramids. I?ve seen deadly snakes lurk in this area, as well as venomous scorpions, tarantulas the size of a grownup?s hand and swarms of killer bees. Despite these dangers, volunteers such as myself come here to help archaeologists at the site uncover clues to a longstanding mystery. The question that we hope to answer: What caused the collapse of the ancient empire that created these monuments?

The ancient Maya civilization was an empire the size of Texas and arguably the most advanced civilization in the Americas. Then, for unknown reasons, the ancient Maya civilization collapsed more than a thousand years ago. To solve the puzzle about how the ancient Maya lived and what ended their civilization, a Maya Research Program has been investigating for two decades an area known as Blue Creek, in western Belize.


Visit the new?Science News for Kids?website?and read the full story:?Digging into the Maya mystery


Found in: Archaeology, Humans and Science News For Kids

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/336215/title/FOR_KIDS_Digging_into_the_Maya_mystery

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