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Journey to Central America to explore one of history’s great puzzles.

A lost world lies hidden in the rain forests of Central America. Hundreds of cities and towns stand among the trees. Once they were home to millions of Native Americans known as the Maya.

The Maya have lived in the Central American jungle for 3,000 years. They built an incredible civilization. It was at its peak for about 750 years. The peak ended about 1,000 years ago.

Today the Maya’s cities are empty. Trees and vines embrace the old buildings. Many once proud temples and palaces are now ruins.

I walked through some of these places, and it was a strange experience. The world seemed to belong to the animals. Parrots cackled in the trees. Howler monkeys roared like lions and climbed among the vines. Jaguars prowled the ruins.

What happened to the Maya? Why did they flee their beautiful cities? Archaeologists have been asking these questions for years.

For years, scientists thought some disaster must have hit the Maya. Perhaps a volcano erupted, or an earthquake shook the ground. Maybe an epidemic tore through the population.

Recently, archaeologists have studied the Maya in many new ways. They don’t just look at ruins and artifacts. A big breakthrough was learning to read Maya writing.

Archaeologists also look at layers of dirt in lake bottoms to see how the land has changed. They learn about rain by studying tree rings. They even dig through the Maya’s trash.

All this work has given scientists new ideas. They now think the Maya faced many different problems. A big one was that the Maya world probably had too many people. That likely put a strain on the environment.

To explore what happened to the Maya, National Geographic sent me to Central America. I visited Maya cities and talked to archaeologists who are studying them.

One fiercely hot day, I stood on a riverbank near the ruins of Cancuen. It was a thriving city. Thousands of Maya lived there. Rich people from other cities likely came for vacation.

That all changed 1,200 years ago. Invaders came suddenly, probably by canoe. I pictured them as I gazed at the river. In my mind, I saw their grim faces and sharp spears. The invaders battled with soldiers at the river. Then they headed into town.

I followed the invaders’ path. It led to an amazing palace. It had bedrooms, a gigantic kitchen, a workshop for making jade jewelry, and more. Stone monuments dotted the grounds.

In front of the palace, I saw the ruins of a large pool. It was lined with red tiles. The pool once held drinking water for the city. Then it became a tomb.

The invaders, you see, killed the city’s leaders. They threw the bodies into the water. They killed the king and queen too and buried them nearby.

And then? The invaders left. They took nothing of value. No one knows who they were, what they wanted, or where they went.

The fall of Cancuen was sudden and terrifying. The city’s people were so scared that they fled into the rain forest. Ever since then, the reason for the city’s odd end has been a puzzle for archaeologists.

I learned a different story in another place that I visited. Its name is Tikal. Tikal was one of the greatest Maya cities. Some 55,000 people lived there 1,300 years ago. The city boasted roughly 3,000 major buildings.

Tikal remained a lively city for decades after Cancuen fell. Yet its people then left too. Why?

Archaeologists think Tikal suffered a drought, or lack of rain. That made it hard to grow corn, beans, squash, and other foods. Warfare may also have weakened Tikal. The people of Tikal fought bloody battles with neighboring cities.

That’s not all. Drought and war probably shook the people’s faith in their king. The Maya thought of their rulers as gods. When the king couldn’t bring rain or victory, though, people may have stopped listening to him. Their community then fell apart.

Wandering among the pyramids and temples at Tikal, I imagined the people living there in the city’s last days. I could picture them—hungry, tired, scared, and fleeing forever. Like the Maya in many places in the rain forests of Central America, they left behind a great city and a great mystery.

Article by Guy Gugliotta. Top-of-page photo by Simon Norfolk. "Maya Mystery" appears on pages 18-23 of the September 2007 issue.