Lost Monument of Early Maya Civilisation Discovered in Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

By George Dvorsky on 03 Jun 2020 at 11:30AM

The surprising discovery of a 2,800-year-old monumental structure in Tabasco, Mexico, is shaking our conceptions of Maya civilisation and its emergence as a cultural force.

Using a technology called lidar, in which lasers are used to map hidden surface features from above, archaeologists discovered a previously unknown monumental structure at the Aguada Fénix site in Mexico. This artificial platform – presumably used for naked-eye astronomy – is now the earliest and largest ceremonial structure belonging to the Maya civilisation. Details of this remarkable discovery were published today in Nature.

The platform and its supporting structures, including reservoirs, causeways, and a pyramid-like mound, were found in the Maya lowlands and radiocarbon dated to between 3,000 and 2,800 years ago. It’s conventionally believed that the development of Maya civilisation was a slow and gradual process, with small villages emerging between 2,000 and 1,650 years ago. That such a large and sophisticated ceremonial complex appeared so long ago comes as a big surprise, and its early presence is challenging traditional notions of when Maya civilisation began to emerge.

Indeed, there’s much to learn about the Maya, as much of their legacy remains hidden beneath a huge blanket of trees. Two years ago, for example, a comprehensive aerial survey uncovered 61,480 distinct ancient Maya structures in the lush rainforests of Guatemala. Lidar has led to similar discoveries at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, in which the jungle-penetrating laser uncovered a hidden early capital of the Khmer Empire.

More:
https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2020/06/lost-monument-of-early-maya-civilisation-discovered-in-mexico/