It wasn’t a big city—maybe 10,000 people—but it was a beacon of civilization ... used as a funerary mask, dated to between A.D. 200 and 600, is a striking example of Maya ceramic craft.

And at the peak of their civilization, from a.d. 600 to 850, the Maya built monumental cities and produced art—stone sculptures, painted ceramics, delicate figurines and jade jewelry and masks ...