Nature, a research journal, has announced the discovery of Aguada Fenix, the oldest monumental Mayan site in southeastern Mexico.
The structure had gone undetected until recently because of how well it merges into the landscape. Researchers were able to define its contours thanks to the technique of lidar (light detection and ranging), a radar attached to an airplane to map the reliefs of the ground, even when the vegetation is very dense.
Since the site is so large, if you walk on it, it looks like a natural landscape.
Located near the Guatemalan border, the structure is 1.3 km long and 320 m wide, and was 9 to 15 m high. Built before the site of Seibal (950 BC), which was discovered in Guatemala at the beginning of the 20th century, Aguada Fenix is the oldest known Mayan construction.
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The structure, unlike the Mayan pyramids of Tikal or Palenque made of stone, was constructed in clay and earth and, according to researchers, was probably used for mass gatherings.
The Mayan civilisation, at its beginnings at the time of construction, was community based and the concept of a hierarchical society led by royalty did not come until later.
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"Because the site is so large, if you walk on it, it looks like a natural landscape," said Takeshi Inomata, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona. "But its shape can be seen in the images generated by the lidar."
Some parts of the original rural site of Aguada Fenix are now covered with ranches, while other parts are forested.
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"It is likely that individuals from surrounding areas gathered for special occasions, perhaps related to calendar cycles," said Inomata. "The rituals probably involved processions along the pavements and inside the large rectangular structure. The people also placed symbolic objects, such as jade axes, in the centre of the board."
The analysis of the objects and ceramics found on the site should provide other evidence for these theories.
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