Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Maya civilization in central America, from consolidation of power in the great cities after AD250 to their abandonment by the 16th century.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Maya Civilization, developed by the Maya people, which flourished in central America from around 250 AD in great cities such as Chichen Itza and Uxmal with advances in mathematics, architecture and astronomy. Long before the Spanish Conquest in the 16th Century, major cities had been abandoned for reasons unknown, although there are many theories including overpopulation and changing climate. The hundreds of Maya sites across Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico raise intriguing questions about one of the world's great pre-industrial civilizations.

With

Elizabeth Graham

Professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at University College London

Matthew Restall

Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Latin American History and Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University

And

Benjamin Vis

Eastern ARC Research Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Kent

Producer: Simon Tillotson.