* Astronomy

The lessons of the Maya
Shortly after its apogee, around 800AD, the Mayan civilization, the most advanced in the Western hemisphere, withered. Kingdoms fell, monuments were smashed and the great stone cities emptied. Tikal now stands as an eerie embodiment of a society gone wrong, of collapse. How it came to pass is a question that has long fascinated academics. Titles such as Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization fill faculty bookshelves.

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