Lost Mayan city of 'Valeriana' discovered hidden deep in Mexico forests

Archeologists have found the lost Mayan city ‘ Valeriana ’ hidden deep within the Campeche jungle of Mexico. The huge city can be described as a sprawling, urban settlement, housing architectural marvels and agricultural infrastructure.

Significance

The discovery of this supposedly bustling urban city questions the current understanding of the prevalence and density of ancient Mayan settlements . It serves as a stepping stone for understanding the ancient Mayan urbanization and settlement patterns.

Valeriana was an unexpected discovery, thanks to Lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, a technology that uses lasers to map and analyze archaeological landscapes.

The study utilized a dataset comprising about 122 square kilometers (47 square miles) of high-quality airborne Lidar data collected in 2013. This data was part of the Alianza forest monitoring project, led by the Nature Conservancy in Mexico, aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation.

Cambridge University Press Study

The researchers in the study that was published by Cambridge University Press said, "We argue that the Alianza data demonstrate a range of ancient settlement densities comparable to those documented by site-focused archaeological survey in the region, from nearly vacant rural landscapes to dense urban areas."

They further added that the discovery of Valeriana emphasizes that there are still major gaps in our knowledge of the existence or absence of large sites within as-yet unmapped areas of the Maya Lowlands as per the

Location

The classical-era Maya civilization thrived from 250 to 900 AD, during which it expanded its influence over present-day southern Mexico, as well as Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The analysis of this archaeological site revealed an overall settlement density of 55.3 structures per square kilometer. Researchers also identified a total of 6,764 structures, suggesting the existence of a populous ancient city.

The researchers are further planning a quantitative analysis of the archaeological features within the dataset and conducting field validation of their remote analysis.