Although the ancient Maya built their cities
long ago, they were such good builders that the ruins of their cities remain today in Central America. The problem is finding them.
The Maya built their cities deep in the jungles and swamps. You cannot look for these ruins by air, because the dense jungle hides everything
in a tangle of trees and
vines. They have to hunt on foot.
All work stops from September to May, because of the rain.
It’s just too wet to conduct a dig. They can hunt from May to
August. However, the temperature is very hot.
Besides the weather, and the dense tangle of trees and vines, the
rainforest jungle has unfriendly natives, poisonous snakes,
dangerous spiders, quicksand pits, and all kinds of nasty things.
In spite of the
difficulties, some archaeologists are willing to brave the
dangers of the rain forest to learn more about the mysterious
Maya Indians.
Three years ago, things got very exciting for these brave
archaeologists. New technology is helping to discover hidden
ruins of ancient Maya cities, cities that are 1,500 years old.
With this new technology, and with what they have learned so
far, archaeologists now believe the ancient Maya civilization at
its peak about 1,500 years ago had a population of around five
million people and covered a much wider area than they
originally thought. They've found forts and moats and remains of
homes in swamps that they believed were uninhabitable. Using
this new technology, they have found about 60,000 ruins, some of
which are platforms that once held a home.
It's looking ever more likely that the ancient Maya Empire was an
enormous civilization, highly advanced, with hundreds of cities
connected by a well constructed network of roads through the
jungle. Who knows what they'll find next. It's a fascinating
time for archaeologists and historians of the ancient Maya
culture in Mesoamerica.
2018: Sprawling Maya Network Under Guatemala Jungle Discovered
