The 1,500-year-old city in the middle of the forest still retains its shape
Mexican scientists have discovered a pre-Columbian city dating back more than 1,500 years in the middle of the jungle in the southeastern state of Yucatan. The city called Xiol, which means “spirit of man” in the Maya language, was once home to more than 4,000 people, including priests, scribes, dignitaries and commoners – Photo: REUTERS
Maya was once a great civilization, reaching the pinnacle of everything from architecture, mathematics, astronomy to the arts.
Dating back to 2,000 BC, many impressive Mayan structures still exist in the forests of southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and western Honduras.
During the early AD period, a series of Mayan states and nations were established and developed brilliantly and diversely. However, the vast majority of these countries perished mysteriously and almost completely by the 10th century.
Experts found many small rooms where people lived and workshops for making tools for construction activities, as well as about 15 houses, mostly of adults, with sacrifices of cars. vases, necklaces, earrings and some daily items – Photo: REUTERS
In addition, archaeologists have also unearthed a number of ceramics dating back to earlier Middle Ages (700 – 350 BC), Upper Classical and Early Classical (350 BC – 600 BC). AD) – Photo: REUTERS
The first traces of the city were discovered by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in 2018, but the survey work has only been accelerated in the past 6 months. During that time, scientists have restored a number of structures in the citadel and discovered more settlements. Representative of INAH Center in Yutacan Arturo Chab Cárdenas emphasized the importance of this discovery, due to Xiol’s massive architecture – Photo: REUTERS
Covering an area of about 21 hectares, the city dating from the Late Classical period (AD 600 – 900) has a main square where a pyramid with 2 staggered sections is located. In the upper area there is another square with a palace-like structure, and the entrance is divided in half by a monolithic column – Photo: REUTERS
According to archaeologist Carlos Peraza of INAH, so far, scientists have discovered 12 buildings in Xiol, including surprisingly there are buildings in the “Puuc” style, which is very typical in the South. Yucatan, but less common in the North of the peninsula – Photo: REUTERS
Mr. Carlos Peraza, one of the archaeologists involved in the research, said that this city used to have more than 4,000 inhabitants and showed a class distinction with the fact that the dignitaries lived in tall houses, while others normally at a smaller home – Photo: REUTERS
at Blogtuan.info – Source: tuoitre.vn – Read the original article here
