Lost Mayan City Uncovered in Jungle Using Laser Technology
Archaeologists have unearthed what may be a lost Mayan city hidden beneath the dense jungle of southern Mexico, The Associated Press reports.
The discovery, announced Wednesday, was made using advanced laser-sensing technology known as LiDAR, which revealed a vast complex of structures previously obscured by vegetation.
Dubbed “Valeriana” after a nearby lagoon, the city appears to have been as densely populated as the famed pre-Hispanic metropolis of Calakmul, located in the southern Yucatan peninsula. The research, published in the journal Antiquity, suggests that much of the seemingly empty jungle between known Mayan sites may have been heavily populated.
“Previous research has shown that a large part of present-day Campeche was transformed by its ancient inhabitants,” said Adriana Velázquez Morlet of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), a co-author of the report. “This study reveals that a little-known region was, in fact, an urbanized landscape.”
LiDAR images, captured from an aircraft, revealed an astonishing 6,479 structures spread across an area of some 47 square miles. These include what appear to be temple platforms, ceremonial ball courts, housing platforms, agricultural terraces, and even a dam. The Institute estimates that the structures date back to between 250 and 900 AD, with the settlement potentially starting 100 years earlier.
The discovery was initially made by Luke Auld-Thomas, then a graduate student at Tulane University, while re-examining a 2013 LiDAR survey originally conducted to assess deforestation. Auld-Thomas noticed unusual formations in the jungle data, which led to the incredible revelation of a previously unknown Mayan city.
