RESEARCHERS who conducted a recent expedition in Mexico have found former Mayan structures underneath the jungle floor.
Using laser imaging technology, the group identified several houses, terraces, temples, and even canals beneath a jungle in the state of Campeche, reported Mirror.
The Mayan settlement was under the Calakmul archaeological site.
The researchers, who are from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), used a specific kind of technology to find the ruins.
Through the use of LiDAR (laser imaging, detection, and ranging), the location was aerially mapped out for more than 37 square miles, per Mirror.
The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) conducted the operation and discovered their findings in Texas.
Experts from the Aerotecnologia Digital SA de CV, from the city of Pachuca, in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, also assisted in the operation.
The portions of Calakmul that are already above ground are massive.
It is considered to be one of the largest ancient cities ever discovered pertaining to the Mayans.
More than 1,300 years ago, it was even one of the largest cities on the continent of North America, Mirror explained.
Experts have estimated that about 50,000 people used to live in Calakmul, although they continued to govern others over 90 miles away.
According to archeologists Dr. Kathryn Reese-Taylor and Adriana Velazquez Morlet, this uncovering further solidifies Calakmul’s place as at least one of the largest cities in America during the height of Mayan rule, per Mirror.
“These large residential complexes are grouped around numerous temples, sanctuaries and possible markets, an architectural density that places Calakmul as one of the largest cities in America, around 700 AD,” they noted.
The two experts continued that over 60 individual structures could bee seen within the underground settlement.
Reese-Taylor and Morlet explained that the city likely had to adjust to accommodate population size.
“The magnitude of the landscape modification may have equalled the scale of the urban population, since all the available land was covered with canals of water, terraces, walls and dams, to provide maximum food security and sufficient water for the inhabitants of the city,” they said.
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For related content on ancient finds, The US Sun has the story on a recent discovery of falcon head sacrifices from a specific Egyptian culture.
The US Sun also has coverage of the grave of ‘Father Christmas’ that was recently found in Turkey.
