Dawn of the Maya

Many LDS scholars believe the Nephites and Lamanites (both groups can collectively be called Lehites) became a part of the larger Mayan civilization upon their arrival in the New World.

A few years ago National Geographic produced a film entitled "Dawn of the Maya". A segment of the film discusses the reign of King Pakal in Palenque. Palenque is located in southern Mexico in the general region where Book of Mormon events are believed to have taken place. King Pakal lived approximately two hundred years after the close of the Book of Mormon.

Book of Mormon prophets taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the people of the New World for about a thousand years. This teaching stopped around 400 AD when the Lehite population experienced a general apostasy. Gospel doctrines in some form or another would certainly have survived following this apostasy for at least several more generations despite the falling away.

The portion of the film embedded above presents beliefs held by the Maya which are strikingly similar to themes found in the Book of Mormon and may be vestiges of the prophetic teachings found that book. A few of these themes are mentioned below along with Book of Mormon and other references showing the similarities:

Symbols of life in the hands (3 Ne 11:14)
Garments dyed in blood (1 Ne 12:10-11)
Deification (3 Ne 28:10)
Tree of Life (1 Ne 8:10)
Ascension through levels or degrees (D&C 76:81-113)
Ancestral origin from a sacred city (Alma 9:9)
God of eternal life born at primordial city (Alma 7:10)

In addition to the above clip I have embedded below a portion of a film produced by the Maxwell Institute entitled "Journey of Faith: The New World" which presents more evidence of both the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and its setting.