Thanks to more than 100 years of research, we know much about the Classic Maya period-an era of great cities ruled by powerful kings. Now a revolution in Maya studies is revealing that Maya culture was also flourishing approximately 1,000 to 1,800 years earlier, preceding the time of Christ. At this preview screening of the National Geographic Television Special Dawn of the Maya, you'll examine these discoveries and learn about the scholars behind these finds. After the screening, one of those researchers, archaeologist and Society grantee RICHARD HANSEN, will offer a behind-the-scenes look at his own search to understand the rise and fall of the Preclassic Maya, a previously poorly known period of Maya history, complete with dynasties whose kings built some of the world's largest pyramids nearly 2,000 years before the arrival of Spanish explorers. Dawn of the Maya can be seen on PBS in May.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lectures/2004spring/past.html#maya