In Pictures: Celebrating doomsday past and future

A man dressed in an Aztec costume performs a dance during a ceremony to mark the close of the 13th bak'tun outside the Pre Columbian archeological zone of Teotihuacan. Thousands of mystics, hippies and tourists celebrated in the sunshine of southeastern Mexico on Friday as the Earth survived a day billed by doomsday theorists as the end of the world and a new era began for the Maya people. New Age dreamers, alternative lifestyle gurus and curious onlookers from around the world descended on the ruins of Maya cities to mark the close of the 13th bak'tun - a period of around 400 years - and many hoped it would lead to a better era for humanity.