An Entire Lost Maya City Was Discovered by Accident
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Lost Maya City Discovered by Accident Using Lidar—Hidden in Plain Sight for Centuries
In an astonishing turn of events, an entire lost Maya city has been uncovered in the dense jungles of Campeche, Mexico, thanks to a PhD student’s deep dive into obscure internet data. This groundbreaking discovery challenges long-standing assumptions about ancient civilizations and their ability to thrive in tropical environments.
The student behind the discovery, Luke Auld-Thomas, a doctoral candidate at Tulane University, stumbled upon the hidden city—now named Valeriana—while casually browsing obscure Google search results. “I was on something like page 16 of Google search and found a laser survey done by a Mexican organization for environmental monitoring,” Auld-Thomas told the BBC.
This laser survey utilized Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), a remote-sensing technology that allows scientists to peer beneath dense vegetation by firing thousands of laser pulses from an aircraft. Originally intended for environmental monitoring, the data held a secret: beneath the thick jungle canopy lay the remains of a vast, thriving ancient city that had remained hidden for centuries.
A Forgotten Maya Metropolis
Upon analyzing the Lidar data, Auld-Thomas and his team identified a massive settlement that had once been home to a flourishing Maya civilization. The city of Valeriana, covering approximately 16.6 square kilometers (6.4 square miles), contains an astonishing 6,764 structures, including:
- Pyramids and large ceremonial temples
- Public plazas and residential complexes
- Extensive causeways connecting different districts
- A ritualistic ball court, where the ancient Maya played their sacred game
At its peak, between 750 and 850 AD, Valeriana is estimated to have housed between 30,000 to 50,000 inhabitants—far exceeding the number of people living in the region today.
Professor Elizabeth Graham, an expert in Maya archaeology, emphasized the significance of the find, stating, "The point is that the landscape is definitely settled—settled in the past—not uninhabited or ‘wild,’ as it appears to the naked eye." This discovery challenges traditional Western views that tropical rainforests were inhospitable to complex civilizations.
Hiding in Plain Sight
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the Valeriana discovery is how close it is to modern roads and settlements. Auld-Thomas himself was baffled, exclaiming, "It’s so close to the road, how could you not notice?" Despite its proximity, the city remained unseen for centuries due to the dense jungle cover, a testament to the effectiveness of Lidar technology in revolutionizing archaeology.
However, the discovery of so many lost Maya cities presents a unique challenge. "One of the downsides of discovering lots of new Maya cities in the era of Lidar is that there are more of them than we can ever hope to study," Auld-Thomas admitted.
As Lidar surveys continue to reveal more hidden settlements, archaeologists face a race against time and limited resources to study these ancient sites before development, deforestation, and looting cause irreversible damage.
What Led to Valeriana’s Abandonment?
Like many great Maya city-states, Valeriana was eventually abandoned, and the reasons behind its decline remain uncertain. However, researchers believe climate change played a significant role.
"The landscape was completely full of people at the onset of drought conditions, and it didn’t have much flexibility left," Auld-Thomas explained. "Maybe the entire system unraveled as people moved farther away."
This theory aligns with previous research indicating that prolonged droughts in the 9th and 10th centuries led to widespread agricultural collapse across the Maya world, forcing inhabitants to migrate or perish.
The Spanish conquest in the 16th century further devastated the remaining Maya city-states, as European diseases and colonial warfare wiped out large portions of the indigenous population.
A New Era of Archaeology
The discovery of Valeriana highlights a new era in archaeology, where remote-sensing technology like Lidar allows scientists to map vast landscapes without the need for years of manual excavation.
Previously, archaeologists had to painstakingly walk through dense jungle, cutting through vegetation with machetes, searching for ancient ruins. As Auld-Thomas put it: "That sample was hard won by archaeologists who had to walk over every square meter, hacking away at the vegetation to see if they were standing on a pile of rocks that might have been someone’s home 1,500 years ago."
Now, Lidar provides a faster and more comprehensive way to locate lost civilizations—yet ironically, the sheer volume of new sites being discovered has overwhelmed researchers, as there are now far more lost Maya cities than experts can possibly excavate.
The Future of Valeriana
With Valeriana now officially on the archaeological map, researchers hope to conduct more detailed studies on its structures, infrastructure, and inhabitants. However, the site remains largely unexplored, and funding limitations may prevent large-scale excavations anytime soon.
Auld-Thomas has expressed a desire to visit the site, but as of now, there are no immediate plans for an extensive dig. The challenge remains: how to balance the excitement of discovery with the logistical realities of archaeology.
One thing is clear—the story of the ancient Maya is far from finished. As technology advances and more hidden cities come to light, we may only be scratching the surface of what once was one of the most sophisticated civilizations in the Americas.
A Lost Civilization Rediscovered
The discovery of Valeriana is not just about uncovering an ancient city—it is a reminder of how much history remains hidden beneath our feet. It challenges old assumptions about the Maya civilization, proving that vast urban centers thrived in tropical landscapes, defying the notion that rainforests were inhospitable to large populations.
As archaeologists and researchers continue to explore and analyze the ruins, Valeriana may shed new light on the rise and fall of the Maya civilization, offering invaluable insights into how humans have adapted to environmental and societal challenges throughout history.
For now, the lost city of Valeriana awaits further exploration, a time capsule of a civilization that once ruled the jungles of Mesoamerica.
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