How many Maya codices are known to survive?

Only four Maya codices are known to survive today. Most books written in the Maya hieroglyphic writing system were destroyed by Spanish priests following the conquest of the Yucatán, as they were considered pagan.12

The four surviving codices are:

• The Dresden Codex (Codex Dresdensis), which likely dates to the 11th or 12th century.1
• The Madrid Codex (Codex Tro-Cortesianus), dating from the 15th century.1
• The Paris Codex (Codex Peresianus), which is likely slightly older than the Madrid Codex.13
• The Grolier Codex, which was discovered in 1971 and is dated to the 13th century.1

These documents were crafted from fig-bark paper folded in an accordion style, often featuring covers made of jaguar skin.1