Huge Maya city discovered in Mexico

A team of researchers have found a lost Maya city hidden for centuries under jungle canopy in Mexico using Lidar data – a type of laser survey that maps terrain buried under vegetation

Campeche
Mérida Cancún
YUCATÁN
MEXICO
Calakmul
100km
60 miles

Named after nearby lagoon, may have been home to 30-50,000 people at its peak in 750-850 AD

City, which is 16.6sq km, has two monumental precincts (green squares) around 2km apart, linked by dense houses and causeways

Comprising 6,674 structures, Valeriana is thought to have been second in density only to Calakmul, largest Maya site in ancient Latin America

Larger precinct (below) has hallmarks of political capital – multiple enclosed plazas linked by broad causeway, temple pyramids, ball court and reservoir

0.6 miles
1km

Valeriana
Ball court
Houses
Dam
VALERIANA
100m
330ft

Valeriana had pyramid temples similar to one in nearby Calakmul (above)

Sources: Cambridge University Press, Antiquity Publications Ltd, BBC
Pictures: Luke Auld-Thomas et al/Cambridge University Press
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