Lasers Reveal Hidden Mayan City of Valeriana with 6,500 Structures in Mexico

Researchers have unveiled an extraordinary hidden Mayan city, Valeriana, in the Campeche region of Mexico, revealing a civilization far more extensive and advanced than previously understood. Using LiDAR technology--a remote sensing method that uses laser pulses to map topographies obscured by dense forest--the team mapped out a 21-square-mile urban landscape, uncovering over 6,500 structures. This massive cityscape includes stone pyramids, houses, a dam, a ballcourt, and other advanced infrastructures, suggesting that the city once thrived as a major political and cultural center.

An AI-Generated image of what the hidden Mayan City may have looked like.

Highlights

By Michael Galloway
11/8/2024 (4 months ago)

Published in Americas

Keywords: Mayan City, Valeriana, Hidden City

LiDAR's precise 3D mapping capabilities allow researchers to virtually penetrate thick jungle canopies, revealing structures and layouts invisible to the naked eye. "Our analysis revealed a densely packed city and a complex range of settlements," explained Luke Auld-Thomas, a doctoral researcher from Tulane University. Valeriana features diverse zones, including a section with a pseudo-pyramid identical to those found at Rio Bec, a known Mayan ceremonial site, emphasizing a structured architectural identity across the Mayan lowlands.

The city layout also reflects strategic engineering and environmental adaptability. With its freshwater lagoon and carefully designed water storage infrastructure, Valeriana's complex water management system underscores the ancient Maya's ingenuity in adapting to their tropical environment. Researchers believe these water features, along with the presence of terraces and agricultural plots, would have enabled a stable, large population, providing resilience during dry seasons. Valeriana's amphitheater, temple pyramids, and ballcourts point to an advanced society, where religion, governance, and recreation all played central roles.

This revelation reshapes the scholarly view of the Maya civilization. Despite hundreds of Mayan sites already mapped, this discovery emphasizes the gaps in our knowledge about the full extent of Mayan civilization, especially in yet unexplored regions of southern Mexico and Guatemala. Marcello Canuto, another Tulane researcher, pointed out that LiDAR studies illustrate how the ancient Maya shaped their landscape to support complex societies across varied environments, from dense city centers to remote villages.

The unveiling of Valeriana provides compelling evidence of the Maya's vast network of cities, encouraging further explorations with LiDAR technology. As Auld-Thomas stated, the discovery "puts an exclamation point behind the statement that we have not found everything," suggesting that more Mayan cities await discovery, hidden beneath the jungles and calling into question what we really know about the ancient Maya civilization's complexity, reach, and legacy.

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