Cival

The ancient Mayan city Cival was recently discovered in Guatemala, and
may prove invaluable in learning about the ancient culture. Leading the
excavation work is Francisco Estrada-Belli. While Mayans from this time
period were thought to have been a relatively simple people, this
discovery seems to disprove that. Cival flourished between 500 BC and
100 AD, well before the beginning of classic Mayan civilization in about
AD 300. Cival was one of the time period's largest Mayan cities, with a
peak population of about 10,000. Artifacts such as carved masks and
intricate jade objects have been found as well, providing further
evidence of an advanced culture.
Many of the finds have grave robbers to thank as well. Tunnels they
had dug have led their way to priceless objects, such as an almost
perfectly preserved mask of a Mayan deity. The robbers' axes had missed
a collection of jade pieces by inches as well.
Cival seems to have been abandoned suddenly, with little explanation as
to why. One possibility proposed by Estrada-Belli was that the city had
been evacuated because of an invasion, perhaps by their neighbors the
Tikal.