Reader alert, this is from Fox "News": 'Pompeii of the Americas' reveals Mayans operated differently

'Pompeii of the Americas' reveals Mayans operated differently than people long thought

Published December 22, 2015/
Fox News Latino


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Ceren Site CU.jpg
An excavated household (left), storehouse (center) and community sauna (upper right) buried by volcanic ash at Cerén around
A.D. 660. (Credit: University of Colorado)
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New evidence from an archeological site in El Salvador is turning what for decades has been common thinking among scientists on its head.

Archaeologists have long said that the Mayan empire maintained its wealth and power exerting strict control over the trade, customs and cultures of the people they ruled. New evidence from Cerén, an archaeological site close to San Salvador, however, is casting doubt on that theory.

Discovered in 1976 by University of Colorado anthropologist Payson Sheets, Cerén – also called the "Pompeii of the Americas" – has been revealing new secrets for decades, but recent discoveries point to the fact tat residents had plenty of freedom to make crucial decisions about family organization, religion and food crops.

One example of this is the presence of the sacbe, or small road that connected a yucca crop to an area full of houses and public buildings. Researchers also found other crops divided in parcels between the city and the field.

More:
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2015/12/22/pompeii-americas-reveals-mayans-operated-differently-than-people-long-thought/

(Have no idea if any or all of it is possibly true.)

(The photo almost looks like a tiny, hand-made model sitting on a table. The scale of the fern fronts is wildly off.)

Anthropology:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12292484