* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, September 29, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Jussie Smollett Claims He Was ‘Disrespected’ on the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere – Yahoo

    Jussie Smollett Opens Up About Feeling ‘Disrespected’ During the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    Cardi B Adds More Dates to Little Miss Drama Tour: ‘Y’all Making Me Work’ – Yahoo

    Cardi B Extends Little Miss Drama Tour: “Y’all Making Me Work

    ‘Today’: Sheinelle Jones Thanks Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Death – CBS 19 News

    Sheinelle Jones Expresses Heartfelt Thanks to Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Passing

    Sate your hunger at DBA’s Taste of Downtown – Bakersfield.com

    Indulge Your Cravings at DBA’s Taste of Downtown!

    Caesars Entertainment (CZR): Assessing Valuation After Times Square Casino Setback and Mounting Investor Concerns – simplywall.st

    Caesars Entertainment Faces Times Square Casino Hurdles as Investor Concerns Mount

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee – The Guardian

    Why I Decided to Make the World Wide Web Free for Everyone | Tim Berners-Lee

    From shale to steam: Fossil fuel technology boosts clean geothermal energy – Washington Examiner

    From Shale to Steam: How Fossil Fuel Technology is Powering a Clean Geothermal Energy Revolution

    How Sustainable Technology is Shaping a Greener Future – Technology Magazine

    How Sustainable Technology is Driving the Revolution Toward a Greener Future

    Aurora police hope to add facial recognition technology to crime-fighting tools – CBS News

    Aurora Police Aim to Boost Crime-Fighting with New Facial Recognition Technology

    Autonomous Solutions shows off cutting-edge technology for the public – Cache Valley Daily

    Autonomous Solutions Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology for the Public

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Jussie Smollett Claims He Was ‘Disrespected’ on the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere – Yahoo

    Jussie Smollett Opens Up About Feeling ‘Disrespected’ During the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    Cardi B Adds More Dates to Little Miss Drama Tour: ‘Y’all Making Me Work’ – Yahoo

    Cardi B Extends Little Miss Drama Tour: “Y’all Making Me Work

    ‘Today’: Sheinelle Jones Thanks Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Death – CBS 19 News

    Sheinelle Jones Expresses Heartfelt Thanks to Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Passing

    Sate your hunger at DBA’s Taste of Downtown – Bakersfield.com

    Indulge Your Cravings at DBA’s Taste of Downtown!

    Caesars Entertainment (CZR): Assessing Valuation After Times Square Casino Setback and Mounting Investor Concerns – simplywall.st

    Caesars Entertainment Faces Times Square Casino Hurdles as Investor Concerns Mount

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee – The Guardian

    Why I Decided to Make the World Wide Web Free for Everyone | Tim Berners-Lee

    From shale to steam: Fossil fuel technology boosts clean geothermal energy – Washington Examiner

    From Shale to Steam: How Fossil Fuel Technology is Powering a Clean Geothermal Energy Revolution

    How Sustainable Technology is Shaping a Greener Future – Technology Magazine

    How Sustainable Technology is Driving the Revolution Toward a Greener Future

    Aurora police hope to add facial recognition technology to crime-fighting tools – CBS News

    Aurora Police Aim to Boost Crime-Fighting with New Facial Recognition Technology

    Autonomous Solutions shows off cutting-edge technology for the public – Cache Valley Daily

    Autonomous Solutions Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology for the Public

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home General

How travelers can hunt for Mexico’s lost Maya cities

November 23, 2023
in General
How travelers can hunt for Mexico’s lost Maya cities
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Travel

Jade-filled tombs. Ages-old ball courts. Bloodletting rituals. Visit Chiapas to experience the ruins and secrets of the ancients.

ByErick Pinedo

Published November 22, 2023

• 8 min read

“Lost Cities Revealed with Albert Lin” premieres on National Geographic Channel and Disney+ November 23.

The ancient Maya thrived for some 3,000 years and created a monumental legacy that still inspires pop culture, from animated series to video games. Their stepped stone pyramids and glyph carved temple walls can be found in Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, home to the well known sites of Tulum, Chichén Itzá, and the Uxmal pyramids.

But the lesser known, lesser trafficked Maya settlements and worship sites of Chiapas—Mexico’s southernmost state—are also worth discovering for their combination of archaeology and nature.

The most famous and largest of them, Palenque, is the focus of the first episode of Season 2 of “Lost Cities Revealed with Albert Lin,” which premieres on the National Geographic Channel and Disney+ November 23. In it, the scientist and National Geographic Explorer Albert Lin uses high tech methods to delve into the storied site.

“Palenque is where Maya archaeology began, from that first glimpse of glyphs and pyramids in the jungle,” says Lin, referring to the site’s rediscovery by 18th-century Spanish explorers.

Here’s how to dive into this influential history amid the mountains and jungles of Chiapas.

An ancient temple and trade route

Maya society thrived at Palenque between the 5th and 9th centuries A.D., powered by the site’s location on a commercial route between central Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula. Traders ferried in flint and obsidian from Guatemala and “artisans were able to model stucco in a very advanced stylistic manner,” says archaeologist Carlos Miguel Varela Sherrer, field chief of the site.

Today, most visitors reach the modern city of Palenque by air from Mexico City (1 hour 40 minutes) or Cancún before taking a 15-minute drive through ceiba tree-shaded foothills to the UNESCO World Heritage-recognized site. Hundreds of Maya buildings—many yet to be excavated—sprawl over 3,700 acres of tropical jungle. 

The site’s central area, which functioned as a residential, governmental, and religious center, is dominated by the impressive Temple of the Inscriptions, a 75-foot-tall, stepped limestone pyramid. This stone tribute to the region’s most famous ancient ruler, Pakal the Great (615-683 A.D.), was excavated between 1949 and 1954. His jade death mask is now displayed at Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology, but the Palenque Site Museum holds a replica of it and the burial chamber.

The tomb beneath the pyramid, closed to the public to prevent damage, has stone walls carved with stylized reliefs of Pakal, his family, and the underworld, as well as an enormous sarcophagus made from a single piece of stone. 

“The inside looks like a crystal cave because the limestone has leaked calcite into little stalactites,” says Lin, who entered the tomb and used lidar (light detection and ranging) to explore it on the show. “All along the walls you see inscriptions, the origin story of Palenque.”

(See the Maya underworld in Belize—if you dare.)

Palenque also holds more than 1,500 other Maya structures, including the Cross Group, a trio of temples built at different elevations, most likely meant to represent the sky, the Earth, and the underworld. Its “El Templo de la Calavera” (The Temple of the Skull) has a relief of a human skull carved at its base. The ruins of a central palace, thought to be Pakal’s, have a four-story stone tower as well as indoor plumbing and a steam bath.

“The region has a lot of stone, which allowed for unique architectural work,” says Varela.

A Maya trail through Chiapas

Beyond Palenque, you can follow the Maya trade route through Chiapas. Eighty miles south, the city-state of Toniná was inhabited from the first to 16th centuries A.D. by Palenque’s ancestral enemies. They erected the tallest extant pyramid in the Americas in the 14th century A.D., the 1,049-foot-high “Acropolis.” 

It’s the anchor of a site where temple-pyramids are arranged on earthen terraces high above a central plaza where Mayas played pelota, a kind of handball. Recent archaeological studies posit that the people of Toniná combined the ashes of their deceased rulers with rubber to make pelota balls.

(Discover Maya history on Mexico’s first long-distance trail.)

A three-hour drive west, the ruins of Yaxchilán skirt the banks of the Usumacinta River (the natural border between Mexico and Guatemala). You’ll probably encounter more howler monkeys than tourists amid the intricately carved stelae and temples where the “Jaguar” clan thrived from 500 to 700 A.D.

A five-hour drive east from Yaxchilán, Bonampak holds crumbling structures such as the Temple of the Murals, where colorful frescoes of Maya court life adorn the walls. Scenes depicting ritual bloodletting as well as parades of musicians hint at a complex culture that fascinates us to this day.

what to know

Seeing the sites: Though you can explore on your own, it may be easiest to navigate via guided tours by companies such as Palenque Mágico or Olmar Travel. 

Where to stay and eat: Base yourself in Palenque, where hotels include Piedra de Agua and Quinta Chanabnal. Sample local dishes such as cheese-stuffed plantains or tamales with mole and olives at El Bambu or Café Jade.

Mexican journalist Erick Pinedo is a former editor at the Latin American edition of National Geographic. Follow him on Instagram.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/mayan-sites-chiapas-albert-lin-palenque

Previous Post

What I discovered about my heritage while visiting the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe

Next Post

Taylor Swift Wore These $10 Sheer Tights & You Can Still Grab a Pair: Shop the Style Here

Neighborhood Ecology Corps – RaleighNC.gov

Uncover How the Neighborhood Ecology Corps is Transforming Raleigh

September 28, 2025
A chemistry teacher’s approach to chocolate making: Meet Maram the STEM chocolatier – The Advocate

A chemistry teacher’s approach to chocolate making: Meet Maram the STEM chocolatier – The Advocate

September 28, 2025
The right stuff: New cohort of astronauts recruited by NASA – Digital Journal

The right stuff: New cohort of astronauts recruited by NASA – Digital Journal

September 28, 2025
‘Fallapalooza’ encourages active lifestyle for senior safety – WVIR

Fallapalooza Ignites Senior Spirit for Active and Safe Living

September 28, 2025
Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee – The Guardian

Why I Decided to Make the World Wide Web Free for Everyone | Tim Berners-Lee

September 28, 2025
While chasing DK Metcalf, Isaiah Rodgers reached unprecedented speed – Yahoo Sports

Isaiah Rodgers Hits Unbelievable Top Speed While Chasing Down DK Metcalf

September 28, 2025
Poland bounce back with first ever World Championship bronze – Volleyball World

Poland Triumphs with Historic First-Ever World Championship Bronze in Volleyball

September 28, 2025

Russian Economy Struggles Under Growing Strain of Ukraine Conflict

September 28, 2025
Jussie Smollett Claims He Was ‘Disrespected’ on the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere – Yahoo

Jussie Smollett Opens Up About Feeling ‘Disrespected’ During the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere

September 28, 2025
Tom Holland shares health update after suffering concussion on ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ set – New York Post

Tom Holland Opens Up About His Recovery After Concussion on ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Set

September 28, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (842)
  • Economy (862)
  • Entertainment (21,736)
  • General (17,298)
  • Health (9,905)
  • Lifestyle (875)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (864)
  • Politics (872)
  • Science (16,072)
  • Sports (21,362)
  • Technology (15,845)
  • World (844)

Recent News

Neighborhood Ecology Corps – RaleighNC.gov

Uncover How the Neighborhood Ecology Corps is Transforming Raleigh

September 28, 2025
A chemistry teacher’s approach to chocolate making: Meet Maram the STEM chocolatier – The Advocate

A chemistry teacher’s approach to chocolate making: Meet Maram the STEM chocolatier – The Advocate

September 28, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version