Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. The ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula has long been associated with human sacrifice, with hundreds of bones unearthed from temples, a sacred sinkhole and other underground caverns. A long-held misconception is […]
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In 1967, an underground cistern known as a chultun was discovered near a sacred body of water at Chichen Itza, an important ancient Maya city on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Skeletal remains of more than 100 children were found inside. Now, DNA obtained from 64 of them is offering insight […]
AKTUN TUYUL CAVE SYSTEM, Mexico (AP) — Rays of sunlight slice through pools of crystal water as clusters of fish cast shadows on the limestone below. Arching over the emerald basin are walls of stalactites dripping down the cavern ceiling, which opens to a dense jungle. These glowing sinkhole lakes — known as cenotes — […]
AKTUN TUYUL CAVE SYSTEM, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s outgoing leader has rapidly built a train system looping around the country’s southern Yucatan Peninsula. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised the more than $30 billion Maya Train project would connect tourist hubs like Cancún and Playa del Carmen to dense jungle and remote archaeological sites, drawing […]
Reality TV host Maya Jama tried to recruit a new fan when she asked Britain’s King Charles if he watches Love Island during a Buckingham Palace garden party celebrating the creative industries. Charles laughed and made jokes with guests as he joined Queen Camilla, the Duke of Edinburgh and Duchess of Gloucester in the palace […]
There was perhaps no better host for this weekend’s Mother’s Day edition of Saturday Night Live than Maya Rudolph. The mother of four slayed, vogued and delivered some of the season’s most memorable zingers thus far. In her third time as host, the SNL alum revived one of her most beloved characters — an exasperated […]
A baseball player may tap his helmet three times before stepping up to the plate, and an Argentina supporter may burn incense in front of a portrait of Diego Maradona as the Albiceleste kick off. Now, a team of archaeologists have found evidence that the ancient Maya blessed their ball courts with ritual offerings, an […]
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. In an ancient Maya temple-pyramid in Guatemala, archaeologists recently discovered the scorched bones of at least four adults who were likely members of a royal lineage. The burning signaled a deliberate and potentially public desecration […]
We live in a light-polluted world, where streetlamps, electronic ads and even backyard lighting block out all but the brightest celestial objects in the night sky. But travel to an officially protected “Dark Sky” area, gaze skyward and be amazed. This is the view of the heavens people had for millennia. Pre-modern societies watched the […]
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government blamed a contractor Tuesday for a loose railway fitting that caused a train car to derail on the president’s pet project, a tourist rail route known as the Maya Train. The derailment on March 25 proved embarrassing for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who views the $20 billion […]
In Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, amidst the vast forests and archaeological sites, lies the awe-inspiring city of Chichén Itzá. This ancient Maya metropolis is renowned for its architecture, intricate mythology and reverence for Kukulkan, the feathered serpent god. A “vision serpent” in Maya culture, Kukulkan represented an important connection between the physical world and the spiritual […]
By Paola Chiomante PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexico’s Maya Train rail project in the Yucatan Peninsula is raising concerns among environmental experts about potential damage to unique ecosystems including a network of subterranean caves. One section of the 1,554-km (965-mile) rail system in Mexico’s southeast, which connects the resort town of Cancun, opened […]