Lost Mayan city discovered in southern Mexico jungle

A Lidar image shows what archeologists in Mexico say is a newly discovered lost Mayan city, which they named Valeriana, hidden deep in the southern jungle of Campeche, Mexico, in this undated handout released Oct 29, 2024. Auld-Thomas et al, 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd/Handout via REUTERS

Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered a huge, lost Mayan city, which they named Valeriana, hidden deep in the southern jungle of Campeche -- a sprawling, urban settlement, replete with architectural marvels and agricultural infrastructure.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The discovery of what appears to have been a bustling urban landscape challenges the existing knowledge about the prevalence and density of ancient Mayan settlements.

Valeriana was discovered by chance thanks to Lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, a technology that uses lasers to map and analyse archaeological landscapes.

The dataset used for the study came from approximately 122 square kilometers (47 square miles) of high-quality airborne Lidar data collected in 2013 as part of a forest monitoring project called Alianza and led by the Nature Conservancy in Mexico, to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation.

KEY QUOTES

"We argue that the Alianza data demonstrate a range of ancient settlement densities comparable to those documented by site-focused archaeological surveys in the region, from nearly vacant rural landscapes to dense urban areas," said the researchers in the study, published by Cambridge University Press.

"The discovery of Valeriana highlights the fact that there are still major gaps in our knowledge of the existence or absence of large sites within as-yet unmapped areas of the Maya Lowlands," added.

CONTEXT

Lidar technology revealed a sprawling, urban settlement, replete with architectural marvels and agricultural infrastructure.

The classical-era Maya civilisation dates back to the period between 250 and 900 AD, when it extended its dominion over present-day southern Mexico and what are now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

BY THE NUMBERS

The analysis of the archaeological site yielded an aggregate settlement density of 55.3 structures per sq km. The researchers identified a total of 6,764 structures, hinting at a populous ancient city.

WHAT'S NEXT

The researchers will carry out further detailed quantitative analysis of the archaeological features within the dataset and conduct field validation of their remote analysis. The discovery serves as a stepping stone for understanding the ancient Mayan urbanisation and settlement patterns.