Archaeologists have discovered the oldest and largest Mayan city ever found

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Thanks to modern technology, archaeologists have been able to discover the oldest and largest Mayan monumental complex ever found. Laser mapping is a technique that allows experts to look at terrain that, for various reasons, is very difficult to explore. This method allows you to find and remotely compile a detailed map of an area covered, for example, by a dense forest. What is this complex and what surprises awaited scientists there?

This monumental complex of the Mayan civilization was discovered in the state of Tabasco, Mexico. The structure was named Aguada Fenix. This group of structures looks like a large platform. Its height is from ten to fifteen meters, and the area that the complex occupies is more than one and a half kilometers. Nine roads are laid from the center in different directions. Experts believe that the complex is about 3000 years old.

The scale of the complex is simply enormous! Not only is it the earliest and largest Mayan ceremonial structure, but it is so large that it takes up much more space than the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt!

The technologies with which the discovery was made have been used with success in a number of fields, including archeology. This allows scientists to save time and effort without traveling to hard-to-reach places in search of monuments and treasures. In fact, this discovery was made back in 2017, but only now scientists have begun to share the details of this stunning find.

The oldest known Mayan settlement dates back to 950 BC. Aguada Phoenix may be fifty years older. To reach these conclusions, archaeologists used laser and radiocarbon dating systems. The area where the complex of structures was found is not deep in the jungle. This is a plain, today it is densely populated, but thanks to a modern innovative system, it became possible to study in detail the entire underground structure of the complex.

After a detailed study of geodata, archaeologists began excavating this place. As part of this process, they had 69 samples of carbon dated coal, and the results showed that Aguada Fenix was between 1000 and 800 BC. Experts believe that the complex was used as a ritual site. A team of archaeologists unearthed jade axes and other ceremonial items while excavating the site.

Takeshi Inomata of the University of Arizona says the rituals likely involved the use of roads that lead to a large rectangular area that allows large numbers of people to congregate. The likely purpose of this site is to gather the community for Mayan religious ceremonies.

While later structures, such as the famous pyramids, are made of stone, this monument is made of earth and clay. There were also no signs of statues of people of high status, suggesting that Maya culture was more communal at the beginning of its history and later developed into a more hierarchical society.

The Maya were a Mesoamerican civilization that spanned several indigenous cultures from Mexico and Central America before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. They were never a united empire, but rather consisted of several city-states in Belize, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Different city-states fought or formed alliances at different times, but they all shared certain common cultural traits. This includes a great deal of experience in medicine and astronomy, as well as their incredibly complex calendar. In the early Maya period, when this structure was built, the civilization was mainly agricultural, cultivating cassava, corn, pumpkin and beans. It was around the same time that the Olmec civilization was well developed and the Maya adopted some of their specific cultural and religious traits. Also, a complex calendar and system of numbers were also adopted from the Olmecs, which could stimulate changes in the Mayan society.

This discovery will significantly change the history of Central America, because it seems that in his light of this, the Mayan society in its origins will not now be as unequal as it was at later stages of its development.

According to scientists, the fact that such structures were built earlier than previously thought may mean that there were some inextricable ties between people in Mayan society that cannot be imagined in a highly hierarchical society. After all, the construction of such a huge complex would be impossible without solid social work.

Experts believe that a spontaneous initiative could contribute to the creation of even something more than a government organization with clear leadership. This can only mean that social connections were of the same importance or even more important than the central organization. In this case, coordinated teams would be more effective than a vertical social structure.

Inspired by these perspectives, scientists will continue their research in the Tabasco region. They hope to be able to expand their knowledge of the origins of the Olmec and Maya peoples. Something that has been forgotten for so long.

Read more about the history of the mighty Mayan civilization in our article scientists have solved one of the mysteries of the ancient Mayan civilization.