archaeologists from the University of Arizona (USA) using aerial photography found in the territory of the Mexican state of Tabasco previously unknown Maya city, which, as shown by the study is the largest to date, the sacred object of this civilization.
a Brief report on the work published on the website of the University of Arizona and a fully it can be found in the journal Nature. The find was made on the plateau Aguada Phoenix near the North-Western border with Guatemala. The great object of thousands of years was hidden under the surface of the earth. Surprisingly, he was found not in an uninhabited place and in a densely populated area. However, no one knew.
In 2017, this object was seen in the images that scientists have made from the air. This was followed by field work. The researchers used lidar technology to “Shine through” the earth. The data obtained allowed to reconstruct a three-dimensional model of the city, which is just amazing.
the Main object, doubtless, was a strange elevated platform, completely flat. Over time, it has gone underground, so no one knew of its existence. She rises above the earth at 15 meters. Its length is in excess of 1.4 km and width is about 400 meters. From the air it resembles a runway surrounded by infrastructure.
From the platform to the other, smaller objects are drawn around nine broad roads. In the course of excavations the researchers selected for laboratory analysis of 69 samples. Radiocarbon Dating helped to establish that this town was built between 1000 and 800 BC. This makes it one of the oldest objects in Maya.
still the oldest ceremonial object of this civilization was considered to be a monument at Seibal, dated about 950 BC. But if the age found the city, some monuments can still bet the size he has no equal.
Discovered the aerial platform is the largest facility in the pre-Hispanic era ever found in Mesoamerica. It is far superior to a complex of pyramids and palaces of later periods. This discovery sheds new light on the history of the Maya.
Until now it was believed that this civilization developed gradually: a small Mayan villages began to appear between 1000 and 350 BC. Then the gradual development of the use of ceramics and the cultivation of corn. But such ancient and monumental structure suggests that Maya already 3000 years ago were advanced enough.
furthermore, the researchers believe that at the time they actively use collective labor. Besides, they had no social inequality. Scientists say that the monument Aguada Phoenix is similar to a sacred center of Olmec in San Lorenzo on Western Mexico in the state of Veracruz.
But if Olmec was the giant stone sculptures associated with the rulers and representatives of the elites, for example, the colossal heads and thrones, the Aguada Maya, Phoenix is nothing like that.
by the Way, this facility was built in a difficult transition period, when the center in San Lorenzo came to a decline, and the rise of the new cultural center of the Olmec, La Venta, was far away.
“Vast plateaus and broad dikes suggest that this monument was built for use by many people, says co-author Takeshi Inomata. In later periods there was a strong leader and a powerful administrative system, in which people were ordered to perform the work. But this monument appeared much earlier, and we see here evidence of the presence of a powerful elite. We think its creation is more a result of collective work”.
