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Maya Civilization: A Maya city lost for centuries has been rediscovered in the Mexican jungle. This ancient lost city was discovered not by expert archaeologists but by a PhD student. PhD student Luke Old-Thomas made the discovery by chance after reanalyzing old data. Pyramids, bridges, amphitheater and playgrounds were also discovered, which other archaeologists had not seen before.
It was detected using a type of laser survey called lidar. It was such a huge city that it is believed that it must have existed between 750 and 850 AD. At its peak, the city was home to 50,000 people. Large pyramids, bridges, amphitheater and playgrounds were also discovered in the city.
The name of this city is Valeriana. The discovery team also believes that in density it is second only to Calacamul, which is considered the largest Maya site in ancient Latin America.
The city was hidden in the Mexican jungle for centuries. After deploying knives and binoculars for laser mapping, the team of explorers discovered temple pyramids, squares and reservoirs and found other structures in the city.
The discovery in the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche came when anthropologist Luke Old-Thomas of Northern Arizona University began exploring whether the use of sophisticated laser mapping called lidar could reveal more about the ancient world of the Maya.
Old-Thomas said, 'For a long time our sample of Maya civilization was a total of 100 square kilometers. Archaeologists recovered the specimen with great effort. Who worked hard on every square meter. Cut through the vegetation with a knife to see if it stands on a pile of rocks that might have been someone's home 1,500 years ago.'
What is lidar technology?
Lidar is a technology that flies over a place. It generates three-dimensional information about the shape of surface features using lasers and other data in flight.
LiDAR provides information about ancient Maya settlements and land hidden by forest on both sides of the national highway and the conditions below. This is not a cheap device. A lidar survey of the area had also been conducted earlier, thereby mapping the area in advance. On this he used Lidar more intensively.
Six years ago, one of the researchers used lidar to discover unknown Maya homes, buildings, protective works and pyramids thousands of years old in the dense jungle of the Paten region of Guatemala. Which shows that lakhs of people lived there compared to before.
Why was it named Valeria?
Thomson speculated that others had already mapped the area for different reasons. He was fortunate that in 2013 a forest project conducted a comprehensive lidar survey of 122 square kilometers of this area. When it was analyzed, it was discovered that there were a series of Maya settlements in these forests and behind the bushes. In which the entire city can be included. A fresh water lake was also found there which was named Valeriana.
This city may also have been the capital of the Maya civilization.
There appears to have been a large complex and two monumental complexes along the way to Valeriana. It seems that this must have been a very important city of the Maya civilization. This must have had great political importance. It is possible that this may have been the capital. Since it is connected to a major national highway. Adjacent to it are several squares, temple pyramids, a ballcourt, an arroyo (a seasonal waterway). The architectural style of the city suggests that it was generally built around 150 AD. may happen before
great city of pyramids
This newly found Maya city was not the only rural area and small settlements. We also found a large city with pyramids near the only national highway in the area. The surprising thing is that people were doing farming here amidst the ruins for a long time. The government never came to know about this. Even the scientific community never knew about it.
Now a thorough search has been planned in the city. There are many examples of cities in the ancient world that are quite different from those of today. These were cities which were built for agriculture. They were very dense. There were cities too which might have remained the same.
The study estimates that perhaps one million people lived in the Maya lowlands, meaning there would have been a need for large-scale food production.
Learn about the Maya civilization
– Maya civilization was one of the most amazing civilizations of the ancient world. This civilization was spread in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and the Yucatan Peninsula.
– Maya civilization started in 1500 AD. This happened in the past.
– This civilization was at its peak between 250 and 900 AD.
– People of Maya civilization were skilled in art, mathematics, architecture and astrology.
– The people of Maya civilization created a calendar. In which various religious festivals and astronomical events were described.
– The people of Maya civilization adopted the belief of Kuh, which means that divinity is found in all things.
– There was a practice of human sacrifice in Maya civilization.
– In the Maya civilization, a game called Pitaj was played, which was a game similar to football.
– The Maya civilization recorded their knowledge of history and rituals in screenfold books.
– Maya cities featured palaces, pyramid-temples, ceremonial ball courts, and houses or structures specifically built for astronomical observatories.
