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LiDAR Reveals Ancient Maya City Valeriana, Once Home to 50,000, Discovered by PhD Student in Mexican Jungle

Nov 2, 2024, 05:23 AM

Archaeologists have discovered a vast ancient Maya city deep in the jungles of Campeche, Mexico, using advanced laser mapping technology known as LiDAR. The city, named Valeriana, may have been founded before 150 AD and was once home to an estimated 50,000 people around 800 AD. The discovery was made by a doctoral student who found a public dataset on page 16 of a Google search and had unknowingly driven past the site years earlier. The site includes thousands of structures, including monumental pyramids, palaces, and plazas, and features a Maya complex built alongside a sinkhole. The city is believed to have been a regional political capital and provides new evidence that the Maya civilization was even more extensive than previously thought.