(http://m.static.newsvine.com/servista/imagesizer?file=boyle541BA58A-E988-70C1-B31D-AFCE50A226E4.jpg&width=900)GeoEyeMayapan's ruins are surrounded by forests in this picture, captured by GeoEye's Ikonos satellite on Sept. 19, 2001.By Alan Boyle
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This satellite image of the ruins of Mayapan, on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, hints at the apocalypse that befell a Maya kingdom hundreds of years ago.
Mayapan is considered Mexico's last Maya capital, and represents one of the largest assemblages of Maya ruins in the Yucatan. The city was built after the Maya revolted against the lords of Chichen Itza (http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2010/12/15/5657483-holiday-calendar-stairways-to-heaven?lite). The largest pyramid is the Castle ("El Castillo") of Kukulkan, made as a smaller replica of Chichen Itza's El Castillo pyramid. Mayapan also is home to many circular buildings, or observatories. The Maya's astronomical knowledge helped them predict the exact time of solar and planetary events and aided in the creation of precise calendars.
NBCNews