Engineering Marvels of the Ancient Mayas

Ancient Mayas used lost principles of technology to construct grand cities towering above rainforest canopies, build water systems with underground reservoirs and aqueducts channeling water into structures, create elevated paved roads crossing miles of jungle, and engineer the longest suspension bridge in the ancient world. They knew structural mechanics for multistory buildings that were not exceeded in height until 1885, when the first skyscraper was build in Chicago. They invented a blast furnace to create concrete 2,000 years before it was patented in England. They had high-precision tools that were harder than iron in a land lacking metallic ore. Without large animals as beasts of burden to pull wheeled carts, they had efficient man-powered transport systems. Their complex hieroglyphs were one of the five original writing systems in the world.

Join Maya expert Leonide Martin, author of The Mayan Red Queen: Tz'aabk'u Ahau of Palenque, for an online chat to further explore how the Maya accomplished these feats during the time period from 200-900 CE, while Europe was in the Dark Ages.