The ruins of a major Mayan city have been discovered in Mexico, thanks to the use of LIDAR. “The use of LIDAR (laser imaging, detection, and ranging) in archaeology has been a complete game-changer for previously hard to access areas, including mountain ranges, deserts and rainforests. Previous LIDAR studies in the Amazon shocked archaeologists with the scope and scale of former human settlements, confirming conquistador stories of teeming cities on the banks of the river,” reports Gray Goose Chronicles.
Aerial images over the Mexican region of Campeche have stunned the world with clear pictures of large-scale settlements, buildings and maybe even pyramids, all lost to time….the epicentre of a major urban area that was previously unknown to the scientific community. This city, which we call Valeriana after an adjacent freshwater lagoon, encompasses two major hubs of monumental architecture 2km apart, linked by continuous dense settlement and landscape engineering...dams, monumental architecture and housing in close proximity meant researchers were able to positively point to a new ‘city’….The larger of Valeriana’s two monumental precincts has all the hallmarks of a Classic Maya political capital: multiple enclosed plazas connected by a broad causeway; temple pyramids; a ballcourt; a reservoir formed by damming an arroyo (a seasonal watercourse); and a probable E-Group assemblage, an architectural arrangement that generally indicates a founding date prior to AD 150.
In January, an ancient lost city was found in the Amazon, bigger than those of the Maya in Mexico. Until recently, the Amazon region was thought to have been inhabited only by primitive savages before modern times. But this discovery shows an advanced civilization once existed in the Amazon region of eastern Ecuador, before collapsing 1500 years ago:
The houses and plazas in the Upano area in eastern Ecuador were connected by an astounding network of roads and canals. The area lies in the shadow of a volcano that created rich local soils but also may have led to the destruction of the society.
While we knew about cities in the highlands of South America, like Machu Picchu in Peru, it was believed that people only lived nomadically or in tiny settlements in the Amazon….“It changes the way we see Amazonian cultures. Most people picture small groups, probably naked, living in huts and clearing land – this shows ancient people lived in complicated urban societies.”…The city was built around 2,500 years ago, and people lived there for up to 1,000 years, according to archaeologists. It is difficult to accurately estimate how many people lived there at any one time, but scientists say it is certainly in the 10,000s if not 100,000s….
LiDAR technology found 6,000 rectangular platforms measuring about 20m (66 ft) by 10m (33 ft) and 2-3m high….A network of straight roads and paths connected many of the platforms, including one that extended 25km (16 miles)….“The road network is very sophisticated. It extends over a vast distance, everything is connected. And there are right angles, which is very impressive.”
Scientists also found causeways with ditches on either side, which were likely canals that managed the plentiful water in the region.
