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For more than a hundred years archaeologists have tried to explain why the highly developed culture of the Mayan people suddenly began to disappear during the 9th century AD. The written language of the Mayans was the New World's most highly developed. They built stately pyramids and palaces, and were masters in astronomy and mathematics - already two thousand years ago. Researchers had assumed that the reasons for the decline of the culture were disease, famine, an ecological catastrophe, drought or other environmental changes. Archeologists have now been able to put together a unique history centering on the area of Petexbatún and the city of Dos Pilas which explains that the main reason for the culture's decline was bloody warfare. The empire rose, reached its peak and declined within only a few centuries. The decline was caused by the changes the kings made in their warfare tactics. They went from a more ritual type of war to an aggressive, bloody and destructive warfare, with the main goal being to annihilate the enemy and destroy the cities. This exhibition tells about the Mayans fascinating history, beginning from the newest research observations. Information still remains to be unearthed in the future, since only 100 out of 2700 ruin sites have been explored. The excavations in Petexbatún, Guatemala, led by Professor Demarest, have resulted in the whole new view of why the Mayan culture was annihilated during the classic period around the 9th century AD. Petexbatún is in Northern Guatemala along the Ucumacinta-ape river in the province of Petén. In the 8th century AD, the area around the Petexbatún lake, was controlled by a city-state, which was governed by the cities of Dos Pilas and Aguateca. At the exhibition there is a 23 minute long film by National Geographic entitled "War among the Maya". The film is about the excavations and political science theories which are presented at the Mayan exhibition.
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