Two ancient Mayan cities found in Mexican jungle

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,667
3,004
113
Two ancient Mayan cities found in Mexican jungle
Reuters
First posted: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 11:20 AM EDT
Archaeologists have found two ancient Mayan cities hidden in the jungle of southeastern Mexico, and the lead researcher says he believes there are "dozens" more to be found in the region.
Ivan Sprajc, associate professor at the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, said his team found the ancient cities of Lagunita and Tamchen on the Yucatan peninsula in April by examining aerial photographs of the region.
Sprajc said the two cities reached their heyday in the Late and Terminal Classic periods (600-1000 AD). At each site, researchers found palace-like buildings, pyramids and plazas. One of the pyramids is almost 20 metres high.
They also found a facade featuring a monster-mouth doorway, which probably marked one of the main entrances to the center of the city. Photographs from the sites showed stone pyramids jutting out from beneath dense foliage.
"The entrance apparently symbolizes the entrance to a cave and to the underworld ... Someone entering through this doorway would have entered sacred precincts," he told Reuters by telephone from Slovenia on Friday.
Sprajc said his team mapped 25-30 acres at each site, but the cities were probably larger. "We elaborated a map but only of the religious and administrative centers of the two sites," he said, "that's only like downtown."
His team has not yet excavated the sites.
"There are dozens of sites that I already have seen on the aerial photographs," he added, noting that additional discoveries depend on further funding.
Last summer, Sprajc discovered another ancient Mayan city, Chactun, 10 km north of Lagunita and 6 km northwest of Tamchen.
Two ancient Mayan cities found in Mexican jungle | International | Travel | Toro
 

B00Mer

Keep Calm and Carry On
Sep 6, 2008
44,800
7,297
113
Rent Free in Your Head
www.getafteritmedia.com


Sounds like a job for Quatermain!!!