Alone in the Americas, the Maya invented writing from nothing and tracked Venus to the day — then the cities fell. The people never did.
Deep in the jungle, under a canopy that swallowed cities whole, priests tracked Venus to the day — and scribes wrote it down in the only true script the pre-Columbian Americas ever produced. The Maya measured time better than Europe did. Then their great cities emptied. The people, though, never left.
