GuatemalaUS - Guatemala scientists discovered the world's first "highway" system, connecting hundreds of ancient Mayan cities.
A Mayan temple at the archaeological site of el Mirador in the jungles of Guatemala. Image: Reuters/Daniel Leclair
The ancient "highway" system was about 177 km long, connected 417 cities and changed understanding of the Maya civilization, Business Insider reported on May 22. The discovery of the network of roads and cities, hydraulic systems and agricultural infrastructure shows that communities living in Central America are more advanced than scientists once thought. New research published in the journal Cambridge University.
The ruins are located at the archaeological site of el Mirador, in a forest in Guatemala, dating from 1.000 BC to the Pre-Classical Mayan period. The Maya were once considered a nomadic, hunter-gatherer community. The new discovery helps change this mindset, said Richard Hansen, lead author of the study and an archaeologist at Idaho State University.
The forest that holds the ruins is accessible only by helicopter or by hiking 64 kilometers, past jaguars and snakes. "We now know that the Pre-Classical period was a very complex and architecturally sophisticated period, some of the greatest structures in world history were built during this time," Hansen said.
The US-Guatemala team has been mapping the area since 2015 using lidar technology - a laser archaeological mapping technique - to detect the smallest details, such as ancient vegetation. This method allowed them to see dams, reservoirs, pyramids, platforms, causeway networks, even ancient football fields.
University of San Carlos archaeologist Enrique Hernández, who co-authored the study, said that with further research, this could turn out to be a historic discovery as influential as the Egyptian pyramids.
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