As you read this story, you will learn the following:
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Researchers recently discovered an ancient Mayan city using lidar. It is located in the Baramaku Ecological Reserve on the western side of the Yucatan Peninsula.
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Further ground investigations revealed the existence of a complex series of structures in an area largely unknown to researchers.
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The discovery of a series of buildings supports the idea that the city may have played an important role in the area.
The jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula’s Baramaku Ecological Reserve recently provided extraordinary views of an ancient Mayan city that may have been quite prominent in the region. Although the city is over 1,000 years old, it is not well known in modern society. Its rediscovery was aided by airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) and subsequent ground-based archaeology.
About 37 miles deep in the jungle, a team of researchers led by IvanṠprajc, a professor of archeology from Slovenia who has directed work in the Yucatan Peninsula since 1996, used aerial scanning to obtain information and discovered the true location of a 1,000-year-old Mayan city with complex buildings, plazas and even a ball game venue.
The city sits on a highland peninsula, surrounded by vast wetlands, and features several pyramidal structures over 50 feet tall. According to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), which is dedicated to exploring the lushly vegetated protected area of Campeche state, the 123-acre site includes three plazas “featuring majestic architecture surrounded by multiple clusters of courtyards.”
“Between the two main squares lies a complex of various low and elongated structures arranged in almost concentric circles,” Ṡprajc said in a statement translated from Spanish. “Including ball games.”
A causeway connects the southeastern complex to the northwest part where most of the buildings are located. Its highlight is a pyramid that rises 82 feet above the natural terrain.
The researchers named the newly discovered city “Ocomtún,” which means “stone pillar” in the Mayan language of Yucatec. Several cylindrical columns were discovered that may have served as entrances to rooms on the upper floors of the building.
As the team searched the site, they continued to look for structures leading to the Laragna River, including stairs, monolithic columns and a central altar. The team also identified the possibility of a ball field area and market or community ceremony space.
“The site was an important center on a regional level,” says Ṡprajc, “probably during the Classic Period (250-1000 AD). The most common ceramic types we collected at the surface and in some test pits are from the Late Classic Period (600-800 AD); however, analysis of samples of this material will provide us with more reliable data on the occupation sequence.”
The team believes that the Okomtun site underwent alterations sometime around AD 1000 due to the courtyard and the temple in the center of the square. “This reflects ideological and demographic changes in times of crisis,” Ṡprajc explains. “Finally, by 10th century led to the collapse of the complex sociopolitical organization of the central Mayan lowlands and a dramatic decline in population. “
Located within 18 to 31 miles of three other Maya cities discovered in the past decade, exploration of the Baramaku Ecological Reserve continues to lead to exciting discoveries. The excavation of Ocomtún is perhaps the most fascinating.
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