Luke Auld-Thomas, a PhD candidate at Tulane University unveiled an array of Maya structures hidden beneath the dense forests of Campeche, Mexico including pyramids, residential areas and even an entire Lost Maya city previously unknown to archaeologists.
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Luke Auld-Thomas, a PhD candidate at Tulane University uncovered Valeriana while browsing online Lidar data meant for environmental monitoring.
He found the Lidar survey on page 16 of Google search results. This survey was originally conducted to measure and monitor carbon levels in Mexico’s forests.
Lidar fires thousands of laser pulses from an aircraft to measure objects hidden under thick vegetation, mapping structures with extreme precision.
Lidar has reshaped archaeology especially in areas covered by dense vegetation. What would once take archaeologists years to uncover on foot has now been mapped 10 times faster.
Valeriana covers approximately 16.6 square kilometers, roughly the size of Edinburgh, Scotland. The site includes two large central areas connected by dense housing, causeways and various structures spanning a 2-kilometer distance.
The Lost Maya City is estimated to have been home to around 30,000 to 50,000 residents at its peak.
The Lost Maya City includes several plazas with temple pyramids, extensive causeways, amphitheaters and even sports courts used for a Maya ball game.
Evidence of an ancient reservoir indicates that Valeriana had developed systems for water storage, allowing it to sustain a large, dense population.
Archaeologists believe the Lost Maya City could house buried artifacts such as jade masks, that may reveal more about the culture, lifestyle and religious practices of the Maya.
Located in Campeche, southeastern Mexico, Valeriana lies close to a major highway, only a 15-minute walk from the road.
Researchers consider Valeriana second only to Calakmul, the largest Maya site in Latin America, in terms of the density of its buildings.
This discovery challenges a notion in Western archaeology that tropical regions are inhospitable to advanced civilization development.
Professor Marcello Canuto, a co-author of the study argues that the tropics were once home to complex societies capable of urban planning, water management and creating dense urban centers.
According to Professor Elizabeth Graham of University College London, Valeriana’s discovery confirms that the Maya inhabited towns and cities, contradicting the previous idea that their settlements were mainly small villages.
The Lost Maya City’s layout, with clear public spaces and residential areas suggests the Maya developed early urban planning principles still relevant in understanding ancient human settlement.
The Maya civilization faced challenges from climate change and population pressure, which contributed to the eventual decline of cities like Valeriana.
Researchers suggest that drought conditions and dense populations weakened the region’s resilience, forcing its inhabitants to migrate and leading to the societal collapse of major Maya cities around 800 AD.
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Archaeologists circumvented the high cost of lidar by repurposing data from a 2013 survey intended for monitoring carbon levels in Mexican forests. This approach demonstrated that lidar data from unrelated projects could be a goldmine for uncovering archaeological treasures.
Collaborating with institutions like Tulane University and Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, the researchers reanalyzed the existing data to locate hidden Maya structures.
The variety in Lost Maya City planning, with some cities sprawling and others densely packed. These ancient designs could serve as models for cities today dealing with land scarcity, infrastructure and sustainability challenges.
Researchers argue that learning from Maya urban diversity could inform the creation of sustainable and equitable modern cities.
The newly discovered structures range from modest family homes to monumental pyramids. Maya urban centers like Valeriana also displayed architectural prowess with their complex layouts and advanced urban planning.
The Maya civilization’s ability to thrive in challenging environments shows an adaptation to their surroundings. These cities were developed with respect to their environment, a practice modern city planners are increasingly emphasizing.
Prior to this breakthrough, most of the documented Maya civilization was limited to a few hundred square kilometers of excavated land. This discovery expands the archaeological sample, providing a much larger representation of the Maya way of life.
Such extensive data reveals insights into daily life, cultural practices and architectural techniques across different Maya regions and eras.
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