In a great discovery a graduate student was found as he accidentally discovered a lost city of them in a jungle in . The city was hidden for centuries and archaeologists were unable to reach it because of dense vegetation. Using Lidar technology, archaeologists discovered a huge ancient Mayan city hidden for centuries in the jungle in Mexico, near the modern state of Campeche. The city, called “Valeriana, ” includes pyramids, stadiums, roads connecting the districts, auditoriums, and squares, elements that show its importance as a center of culture and administration. Researchers believe that the density of its buildings only brings it second after Kalakmul, the largest known Maya site in Latin America. How the city of May was discovered According to it , the city was discovered “accidentally” when the PhD candidate of Tulane University, Luke Old- Thomas, he identified data of an old Lidar mechanism that had been used by a Mexican organization for environmental monitoring. Through these data, analysed by archaeological methods, the existence of an entire city, which once hosted some 30,000 to 50,000 people, was revealed. The characteristics of Valeriana Luke Old-Thomas and his colleagues named this town “Valeriana” from a nearby lagoon. Apparently, this Mayan city hosted rich and complex cultures, yet no one can be sure what led to the destruction and eventual abandonment of the city. Valeriana has the “characteristics of a capital” and was second in building density after the spectacular location of Kalakmul, located about 100 km away. It is “hidden in plain view”, say archaeologists, as it is just 15 minutes from a main road. There are no photographs of the lost city because “no one has ever been there”, as researchers say, although locals may have suspected that there were ruins under the hills of the earth. However, this city of May extends to about 16.6 square kilometres. In these areas were found squares with pyramid-shaped temples, stadiums for the ancient Mayan ball game and a tank water system, indicating the ability of residents to exploit natural resources to support their population. The excavations in the area have not yet taken place, as the city is in a dense jungle. Overall, Old-Thomas and the professor of Archaeology at Tulane University, Canuto, examined three different sites in the jungle and found 6,764 buildings of various sizes. Researchers estimate that its abandonment is likely linked to climate change, as the Maya, who lived in densely populated areas, were unable to adapt to increasing droughts. Other factors, such as conflicts and conquest by the Spaniards in the 16th century, contributed to the complete disappearance of Mayan city-states. The use of Lidar technology has revolutionised archaeological research in areas with dense vegetation, according to the professors. Within a decade, Lidar has revealed thousands of locations, revealing an image of the past that scientists considered impossible to see. The discovery of the buried Mayan city confirms the existence of rich and complex cultures in tropical areas, and is one of the many lost Mayan cities waiting to be explored. Information from BBC
Mexico: Student Discovered Accidentally Lost Mayan City · Global Voices
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