Archaeologists from Slovakia and Guatemala, working along with the Uaxactún Archaeological Challenge (PARU), have uncovered three beforehand unknown Maya cities in Guatemala’s Petén jungle. The websites lie roughly 3 miles (5 kilometers) aside, forming a triangle, and span a protracted interval of Maya historical past from the Center Preclassic period (about 1000–400 B.C.) to the Late Traditional interval (A.D. 600–900). Consultants say that the invention sheds new mild on Maya civilization’s early historical past.

Los Abuelos: A Ceremonial and Astronomical Hub

In line with the translated statement from Guatemala’s Ministry of Tradition and Sports activities, the biggest web site, referred to as Los Abuelos (that means “The Grandparents”), was lively in each Preclassic and Traditional occasions. It yielded placing stone statues of a person and a girl, thought to symbolize ancestral figures. The town included an astronomical complicated with buildings aligned to mark the solstices and equinoxes. Excavators discovered a ceremonial frog-shaped altar and a carved stela with Maya writing that has not but been deciphered. An elaborate burial contained the bones of an individual and two massive cats, together with pottery vessels, shells, and arrowheads.

Artwork historian Megan O’Neil notes that the human-size statues are “particularly poignant,” reflecting how the Maya honored their ancestors. She additionally highlights the intact pottery finds: the realm had been closely looted prior to now, and plenty of ceramics from this area now sit in museum collections with unknown origins. These new excavations could assist hint these artifacts again to their supply.

Petnal and Cambrayal: Political and Engineering Marvels

The second metropolis, Petnal, includes a 108-foot (33-meter) pyramid with a flat summit chamber adorned with purple, black, and white murals. Archaeologists imagine Petnal was a regional political middle. A frog-shaped altar suggests rituals linked to fertility and renewal. At close by Cambrayal, researchers uncovered the stays of a palace topped by a water reservoir and an ingenious canal system. Rainwater was channeled from a rooftop cistern down by means of hidden pipes, in all probability to flush waste.

These findings reveal actually stunning complexity in early Maya cities. By evaluating artwork and structure in any respect three websites, researchers achieve a clearer image of the cultural and engineering achievements of the traditional Maya civilization.