Largest Known Maya Structure Found, More than 4,000 Feet Long and Nearly 3,000 Years Old

New find raises questions regarding size and timing of large settlements in Central America.



3D image of the recently recognized Maya site of Aguada Fenix, based on lidar.

Image credits:
Takeshi Inomata

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May be used with this Inside Science story, with credit given.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020 - 11:00

Charles Q. Choi, Contributor

(Inside Science) -- A giant platform nearly a mile long made of stone, clay and earth is both the earliest and largest known monumental structure constructed by the ancient Maya, dwarfing their biggest pyramids in magnitude, a new study finds.

The people known as the ancient Maya lived in an area the size of Texas across what is now southern Mexico and northern Central America, including the modern countries of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. At its height, known as its Classic period, which spanned from roughly A.D. 250 to 900, the Maya arguably had the most advanced civilization in the Americas, raising cities known for their stone pyramids.

Archaeologists long thought the Maya gradually shifted from a mobile way of life to permanent settlements during the Preclassic period that spanned from roughly 1800 B.C. to A.D. 250, emerging with villages during the Middle Preclassic from 1000 to 400 B.C. However, the discovery of major cities built during the Preclassic challenge this model. For example, the La Danta pyramid complex in the Preclassic city El Mirador rises 72 meters high with a base 500 meters by 300 meters large, dwarfing any Maya pyramids of later periods.

Now scientists have discovered the largest known ancient Maya ceremonial structure, a platform roughly 1.4 kilometers long, 400 meters wide and 10 to 15 meters high. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples from the platform revealed it was constructed between 1000 and 800 B.C., which also makes it the oldest known ancient Maya ceremonial structure.

The site lies partly on Rancho Fénix (Phoenix Ranch) in Tabasco, Mexico. Since artificial reservoirs, called aguadas, are prominent features of the area, the researchers named the site Aguada Fénix.

More:
https://www.insidescience.org/news/largest-known-maya-structure-found-more-4000-feet-long-and-nearly-3000-years-old?fbclid=IwAR3r4xyeDZyXYQiUitDL42gLcRkK8ORPKJc5FI3Yt9HDBtYcfdyL-8IMmO8