Deep in the forests of Mexico and Central America, lie mysterious ruins of ancient cities built more than a thousand years ago by people called the Maya. The Maya were wonderful artists and craftsmen, as well as being skilled in astronomy and maths. They also invented a complicated and beautiful system of writing which they used to make books and stone carvings.

The Maya civilisation was at it's greatest between the years 300 AD and 900 AD, after which the Mayan people left these great cities. To this day nobody really knows why.

Then came the Aztecs, who settled in what is now modern Mexico around 1200 AD. Within 200 years they controlled a large empire. The Aztecs believed that the sun died each night and needed human blood in order to rise again the next day. Like the Mayan people, they also produced many beautiful pieces of art and craft work. The Aztecs were the last of the four great civilisations. The Olmac, Teotihua'can, Mayan and Aztecs.

The Aztec civilisation was a relatively young one at it's time of destruction at the hands of the Spanish Nobleman Hernando Cortes back in 1521. Cortes conquered the Aztec empire with just 500 men, 16 horses and one cannon.