The Maya civilization was one of the most advanced cultures in Mesoamerica, and their empire’s incredible reign (and mysterious collapse) is a source of fascination for all types of scholars. The culture is well-known for its long-count calendar, inscribed on a large stone, as well as its incredible architecture, and for having the first fully developed written language in the Americas. This is known due to the codices, or folding books, which have been found in various historical sites and are considered some of the era’s most important artifacts.

While many of these volumes were destroyed in the years during and after the Spanish conquest, three of the codices have been established as authentic beyond doubt. They are named after the cities in which they eventually came to reside: the Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices. Other Maya books are extremely rare due to disintegration; many excavations of archaeological sites have unearthed lumps of plaster which are the remains of tomes where all organic matter has decomposed.

The Dresden Codex is one of the more well-known books, found in Chichen Itza. The last is believed to be the central city of the Maya civilization. The Dresden Codex is the oldest book written in the Western Hemisphere that’s ever been found, and consists of 39 double-sided sheets of amate paper. One of the most interest about the book is that it was written by different authors in a variety of colors, styles, and glyphs. The volume has an extraordinarily accurate astronomical table, including a chart that predicts the movement Venus in the sky. It's believed that the Maya rulers would organise their wars to occur only when the planet had risen. We still can't explain what made it possible for the Maya people to make such accurate astronomical observations without special equipment, so there are constant talks about possible contacts of Maya with other interspace civilizations.

The Madrid Codex is more varied than the Dresden, and is thought to have been written by only one person after the Spanish had already arrived in Mesoamerica. It may have been sent back to Spain by Herman Cortes himself, and it now resides in the Museo de America in Madrid. The source city for this book is believed to be Tayasal, which was conquered by conquistadors in 1697.

The Paris Codex was qcquired by France in 1832, and promptly disappeared for several years shortly after a few reproduction drawings had been made. It was rediscovered in 1859 in a basket of papers in the National Library, and is in poor condition as a result. The book contains prophecies relating of Maya long-count calendar as well as their zodiac. Many people still believe in the verity of Maya prophecies, or at least in our ability to decipher them.

While these three are the only authenticated Maya codices, there are a number of others which are believed to be forgeries; the rarity of this type of artifact naturally causes a spike in the price for a new one. The Grolier Codex surfaced in the 1970s, and consists of 11 pages, which were discovered in a cave. It is an extremely convincing artifact, but scholars are in serious disagreement over its legitimacy. While the paper is ancient enough, the pictures on it have many inconsistencies and errors, and no consensus has yet been reached.