Name: NOVA
Genre: Documentary

NOVA Episode 35.14 Cracking the Maya Code

NOVA Episode 35.14 Cracking the Maya Code

Episode Premiere

April 8, 2008

Genre

Documentary

Production Company

GBH

Official Site

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

Information

Episode Premiere

April 8, 2008

Genre

Documentary

Period

1974 -

Production Co

GBH

Distributor

PBS

Official Site

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

Cast and Crew

Director

David Lebrun

Screenwriter

David Lebrun

Additional Cast

Jay O. Sanders

Synopsis

The ancient Maya civilization of Central America left behind an intricate and mysterious hieroglyphic script, carved on monuments, painted on pottery, and drawn in handmade bark-paper books. For centuries, scholars considered it too complex ever to understand—until recently, when an ingenious series of breakthroughs finally cracked the code and unleashed a torrent of new insights into the Mayas' turbulent past. For the first time, NOVA presents the epic inside story of how the decoding was done—traveling to the remote jungles of southern Mexico and Central America to investigate how the code was broken and what Maya writings now reveal.