Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Maya city hidden in the jungles of southern Mexico.
The site is located in the Balamkú ecological reserve in the central part of Campeche state, the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said in a statement.
The site, which contains several large pyramidal structures, was likely an important center in the region during the Classic period of the Maya civilization (around 250-1,000 A.D.), according to archaeologists.
The Maya civilization dominated what is now southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and the western areas of El Salvador and Honduras for more than 3,000 years until the era of Spanish colonization.
They were notable for creating the only fully developed writing system in pre-Columbian America, their striking architecture and art, as well as their advanced calendar, mathematics, and astronomical system.
The latest discovery of the "monumental" Maya site in Balamkú was made by a team of archaeologists led by Ivan Ṡprajc.
The research team has named the site "Ocomtún"—meaning "stone column" in the Yucatec Maya language—due to the numerous cylindrical stone columns dotted around the ancient settlement. The columns likely formed part of the entrances of the upper rooms of buildings in the city
The discovery of the site came as part of an INAH-approved research project aimed at expanding knowledge of a vast, largely unexplored area—practically unknown to archeologists—in the central part of Campeche state.
As part of investigations in this area, researchers conducted aerial surveys and used LiDAR technology, which helped to identify numerous pre-Hispanic structures.
LiDAR makes use of instruments fitted onto aircraft that fire pulses of laser light toward the ground hundreds of thousands of times per second. The data that is collected is then used to create detailed 3D maps that reveal the topography of the land and any ancient man-made features that are not normally visible.
Archaeologists also conducted research on the ground, trekking for almost 40 miles through thick vegetation before arriving at the site.
In the southeast part of the site, scientists found three plazas dominated by imposing buildings, according to Ṡprajc. Between the two main plazas, there is a complex made up of various low and elongated structures, arranged almost in concentric circles. Researchers also identified a ball court, used for pre-Hispanic ball games.
One pyramid located in the northern part of the site, meanwhile measures around 82 feet (25 meters) in height, according to archaeologists, while others stand up to around 50 feet (15 meters) tall.
"The biggest surprise turned out to be the site located on a 'peninsula' of high ground, surrounded by extensive wetlands," Ṡprajc said in a statement. "Its monumental nucleus covers more than 50 hectares and has various large buildings, including several pyramidal structures over 15 meters high."
"The site served as an important center at the regional level, probably during the Classic period."
It appears that the settlement suffered a decline in the Terminal Classic period (800-1,000 A.D.)—a tumultuous time for Maya civilization—as evidenced by architectural evidence at the site.
This evidence is "a reflection of ideological and population changes in times of crises that, finally, by the 10th century, led to the collapse of the complex sociopolitical organization and drastic demographic decline in the Maya Central Lowlands," Ṡprajc said.
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