these craft items were all made by specialists who worked at the ancient maya city of copan. between a.d. 400 and 800, this magnificent city flourished as one of the major centers of maya art and culture. copan was built in a broad mountain valley on the western border of honduras. at its height, the economic system of the copan kingdom supported a population of some 27,000 people. a tiny percentage of them were the nobility, the elite of maya society. they were the ones for whom the fine objects were made. to better understand the economy of copan, archaeologists must discover who made these beautiful objects and how the elites acquired them. no one knew the answers until it was discovered that a catastrophe had occurred here a thousand years ago. [ rumbling ] for the maya, the earthquake was a calamity. but for archaeologist dolph widmer, it was an opportunity. when the roof collapsed, it did something wonderful. it collected for us, in place, in the place that they were originally used, a whole series of artifacts and tools. and these were found right here in this room. thi

. >> the maya were a thoughtful civilization but why did they abandon their great cities and appear toh from the face of the earth. >> from some mysterious reason, maya civilization collapsed a little more than a thousand years ago. >> you can't give the people they need to live so they abandon the big cities and go to the countryside. >> one of the reasons why they are abandoned so easily once it 'it was too much to keep the cities to maintain them. it was easy for the maya to pack up and leave. they were self-sufficient anyway. >> we look far away for the answers. maybe the aliens will help us. the ancient maya will help us. >> so deep inside the jungle we find a mystery of the maya. we go to lauren green in israel. >> solstice celebrations are few and far between but if you are christian looking for doomsday. this is the site of armageddon and the battle between good and evil. >>. >> reporter: from the ruins of maya culture to the other side of the world in rome. at st. peter's square an 83 foot sun dial that sits outside the basilica brought over from egypt in 30 ad. nearly every r

city. he mrates seasonalfor mporary y o many maya for the land?roblem is the way the land is used. george lovell heads off to study the dominant industry of the highlands. traditionally it is marked by tall trees g low shike is. this is a co fia. eh, r... pors o toaganquets poro trslatoronig quetzales . narrator: eight quetzales-- 0 a day-- iseager wage by a standar it is commoncross guatemala. onoffee pofhe violenceke this,vt and grion. just three perce of guamalas by the m960s controedwo-thisofhe ae la. atel gw co perce of guamalas by the m960s he h cal,dwo-thisofhe ae la. most are cash crops for export. verywho pportoy rerns on the small remaining land. squalid using, impoverishing wages and and ofir own led many indians and with that desirehr si, came conflict. in new milnnium but the underlying the gureproblems remain. maya't have enough lan who will soon reach to childbearing age. ere in willir culture and economy change to encourage family planning? aturrent rates will they ha access to birth control? the countrs population willow double in

the maya left behind dozens of cities, marked by tall pyramids and imposing statues. these remnants offer a portrait of the maya elite. but archaeologist payson sheets was seeking a broader picture. man: we want to deal with the common people, the people who are doing the farming, who are making the pottery, who are doing the work for supporting society. and it's about time we know something about them, how they lived. were they really exploited ? were they living lives of desperation, just barely eking out an existence under the oppressive machinery of an exploitative government ? or were their lives fairly rich ? did they have things of beauty in their houses ? how did they live ? did they have a variety of foods stored in their houses ? were they scrinched into scuzzy little spaces, or did they have some open areas and a comfortable life ? that's what we're working on. keach: sometimes an archaeologist's search is helped by accident. in el salvador, a bulldozer digging a foundation for a grain silo stumbled upon an old house. could this be the evidence that sheets w

. >> the maya were a thoughtful civilization that flourished during europe's dark ages. why did they abandon their great city and appear to vanish from the face of the earth. >> for some mysterious reason possibly connected with something as simple as a 100 year drought. maya civilization collapsed more than a,000 years ago. >> cannot give the items the people need to live so the people they go to the country side. >> one of the reasons the sites were abandoned so easily was become unwielding once it became too much work to get the cities going. once they got too big or they had too much of a force to maintain them it was easy to pack up and leave. we were self sufficient anyways. >> maybe the ancient maya have words that can help us. >> here deep within the hot and steamy mexican jungle we find the mysteries of the maya. we go from my colleague lauren green in israel. >> both of the celebrations were few and far between. this is the site of armageddon the end of times battle between good and evil. that story coming up next. >>. >> reporter: from the ruins of >> from the ruins of the myian cu maya culture ti

. >> the maya were a thoughtful civilization that flourished during europe's dark ages. why did they abandon their great citiesrom the face of the earth? >> for some mysterious reason, possibly connected with something as simple as 100 year drought, maya civilization collapsed a little more than 1,000 years ago. >> cannot give the item that the people need to live so the people abandon big cities. they go to the countryside. >> one of the reasons why the sites were abandoned, once it was too much work to keep these cities going, once they got too big and destroying too much of the forest to maintain it was easy for the maya to pack up and leave. they were self-sufficient any way. >> we look far away for the answers. maybe the aliens will help us. maybe the ancient maya have words that will help us. >> here, deep within the hot and steamy mexican jungle we find mystery to the maya from here to my colleague lauren greene in israel. >> solstice celebration few and far teen if you are a christian looking for doomsday, go no further this is the sight of armageddon the end of time's battle teen good and evil. that s

reporter: the filmmaker says at the end of other cycles, the maya co-created the beginning of the next. once by walking away from their capital city. another time by initiating a new form of rulership. all on an earth that is constantly cleansing and purging itself. >> the maya always believed that life goes on, no matter what. and that with each ending is a great, new beginning. and so, they didn't and don't believe that this is the whole doomsday that the world is going to come to an end. that's really something that's big in our culture. not in theirs. >> reporter: just last year, these billboards appeared around the country, announcing the end of days prediction of an oakland pastor and radio host. >> it will begin with a huge earthquake in probably on the other side of the world, where the day begins. >> reporter: might the maya predict what he could not? the comment from the family radio, is mr. camping never put stock in the maya predictions because they do not come from the bible. he is no longer interested in any end time predictions. >> we're looking for a thrill. looking for something to take us away from the humdrum of

maya tells us more in the world weather forecast. >>> yes, katherine, even in the city snow has blanketed the city. you can see the winter storm moving away, that really massive rain cloud pulling away from the country so high pressure will be dominating the area making things much calmer than what we saw yesterday, but take a look at a video coming from ho kad owe. this is what happened. heavy snow and blustery winds battered northern japan yesterday and wind gusts of nearly 150 kilometers per hour and an additional 40 centimeters of snow have been reported in parts of hokaido and 45,000 households were out of electricity at one point and the lows are really freezing in some locations. people are really just having difficulty with this piled up white stuff. let's pull back and show you the system has pulled away as i mentioned, but take a look at at ihas brought, 152 gusts reported and 20,000 households out of power and as i mentioned the high pressure system will be dominant pressing over head and still temperatures are really dipping down in hokaido seeing about minus 3 in the a.m. hou

cities, now when the cute coats come out. it's getting chilly. thank you. a quick programming note for you now, countdown to doomsday hosted by bill hemmer, the maya civilization's dan ends on this year's winter solstice, december 31st, and there are predictions that the end of the world is imminent. and that's 10 p.m. eastern and 1 a.m. eastern, and super storm sandy are offering opportunities for people out of work and looking to earn a paycheck. a positive side of the story. plus, casey anthony, remember her? she's back in the news. she was acquitted of killing her tot daughter caylee, during a trial. and now a stunning admission by investigators about a crucial mistake they made during the investigation. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership? [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we stilneed your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. [ male announcer ] the way it moves. the way it cleans.