Discovery of massive Mayan city in Mexico jungle
- Archaeologists discovered an extensive Mayan city named Valeriana in Campeche, Mexico, using Lidar technology to uncover its structures.
- The city, thriving from 750 to 850 AD, is believed to have housed 30,000 to 50,000 people, featuring significant urban designs like pyramids and sports fields.
- This discovery suggests a more complex social structure among the Mayans, with implications for future research on lost urban sites in similar contexts.
In recent archaeological findings in Mexico’s Campeche region, researchers discovered a large Mayan city named Valeriana, which thrived between 750 and 850 AD, potentially housing 30,000 to 50,000 inhabitants at its peak. This complex includes pyramids, sports fields, causeways, and amphitheatres, indicating its significance as a capital city. The location of this hidden site, a short hike from a major road near a predominately Mayan community, highlights how such ancient cities may lay unnoticed in densely vegetated areas. Utilizing Lidar technology, which allows for detailed mapping beneath vegetation, archaeologists were able to identify this significant site after centuries of obscurity. It marks a transformative moment in the field of archaeology, enabling researchers to uncover lost civilisations more efficiently compared to traditional methods. The discovery of Valeriana supports the hypothesis that the Maya lived in complex urban settings rather than in isolated villages. The implications of this discovery extend beyond Valeriana itself, as experts suggest that many more undiscovered Mayan cities could be found using advanced surveying techniques. This has raised concerns about the ability of archaeologists to study all the newly identified sites, considering their sheer number. Such findings continue to reshape our understanding of Mayan society, emphasizing its urban complexity and promoting further exploration into the factors that led to their eventual decline. The research was published in the journal Antiquity, underlining the modern techniques revolutionizing archaeological discoveries.