WITZNA, GUATEMALA—Science News reports that a multidisciplinary team led by U.S. Geological Survey geologist David Wahl has found that the ancient Maya were waging "total war" against entire settlements about a century earlier than previously believed. Scholars had assumed that for much of the Classic Maya period, which lasted from A.D. 250 to 950, warfare was highly ritualized and restricted to raids on opponents' temples or other sacred sites and aimed at taking high-status captives. All-out warfare waged against large populations wasn't thought to have begun until around A.D. 800, and was believed to have played a role in the eventual abandonment of Maya cities toward the end of the Classic period. Wahl and his team have identified the city of Witzna, in northern Guatemala, as the center described on a stele from the nearby city of Narajano as being attacked and burned on May 21, 697. Many structures unearthed at the site, including the royal palace, show signs of signifiant fire damage. The fire that engulfed Witzna was so widespread that it left a thick burn layer radiocarbon dated to between 690 and 700 in a lake a little more than a mile from the city. After the fire, the lake's sediments record diminished human activity at Witzna. To read in-depth about the ancient Maya, go to "The City at the Beginning of the World."