Maya peoples

The Mayan Long Count Calendar comes to the end of its 5125-year cycle. New age prophecies, based on the ancient calendar, warn the world will end when the cycle concludes in December 2012. Living on Earth’s Bruce Gellerman travels to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza to track down the truth.

People in Guatemala, the Maya heartland, are not buying the doomsday tale, though some so hope to cash in on it.

The Mayan Long Count Calendar is nearing the end of its 5125 year cycle. New age prophecies, based on the ancient calendar, warn the world will end when the cycle concludes in December 2012.

Matt Binder reports from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on the efforts of some Mayan farmers to preserve their centuries-old method of rotating, slash-and-burn agriculture. The Mexican government wants to convert much of the Yucatan jungle into conventional modern cropland, but the Maya say their traditional method serves their needs better while protecting the forest.