New Maya City Discovered In The Yucatán Peninsula
The Valeriana site encompasses temple pyramids, a ballcourt, and a seasonal waterway.
A new archaeological discovery in the jungles of the Yucatán Peninsula has revealed a previously unknown Maya city named Valeriana.
The site features impressive stepped pyramids akin to those in renowned locations such as Chichén Itzá, Río Bec, and Tikal.
Utilizing advanced remote sensing technology, researchers mapped the area beneath the thick forest cover, uncovering a densely populated urban landscape along with its rural outskirts. The findings indicate that Valeriana surpasses any previously discovered Maya cities in Belize and Guatemala.
A collaborative team from the United States and Mexico identified over 6,700 structures hidden beneath the canopy, which includes a vast city characterized by pyramids, a freshwater lagoon, and two main architectural hubs interconnected by a network of settlements.
The Valeriana site encompasses temple pyramids, a ballcourt, a seasonal waterway, and several enclosed plazas connected by a causeway, spanning approximately 16.6 square kilometers. This discovery underscores the significant gaps in our understanding of large Maya sites in uncharted areas of the Maya Lowlands.
Led by researchers Luke Auld-Thomas from Tulane University and Northern Arizona University, the team suggests that these findings point to the widespread presence of cities and densely populated areas throughout central Maya Lowlands, challenging the notion that large sites were primarily occupied by elites or sparsely populated.
Published in the journal Antiquity, this groundbreaking discovery was previously unknown to both the scientific community and government officials, despite local awareness of the ruins. The researchers stress that much remains to be uncovered in the region, and the application of remote sensing technology is pivotal in revealing new sites and reevaluating existing theories about Maya civilization.
Read more at Science Alert.