Ancient Mayan settlements were discovered: there were roads, reservoirs, ball fields

The initially undetected Mayan civilization was eventually discovered in northern Guatemala. The Mayan civilization was divided into 964 settlements, complete on roads, reservoirs, and ball fields.

The civilization originated in the Preclassical Maya period -lasting from 1000 BC to 150 AD. Its website spreads over a place 1,685 square km wide and is connected by 177 km of ancient roads.

The Mayan civilization was discovered using LiDAR, a diagnostic mechanism that reflects laser signals from the surface to reveal features and arrays. As LiDAR flew over Guatemala's Mirador-Calakmul Karst Arch (MCKB), the team used technology to penetrate the dense jungle cover and uncover the ancient constructions tucked underneath.

"The LiDAR survey reveals the density and distribution of great Maya sites centralized at MCKB, many of which are directly or perhaps indirectly connected by an extensive road network," noted several researchers in a study circulated in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica.

They found 775 sites within the MCKB, and another 189 were on the karst ridge and its surroundings. The total 964 websites found are classified into 417 cities, small towns, and hamlets. All are counted as sides of 1 similar civilization.

"The stability of the form and the schemes of architecture, ceramics, sculpture, architectural schemes, and the construction of crossroads that make one in a particular geographical area demonstrate the concentrated political, social, and economic organic togetherness between its inhabitants," explained several authors.

Initially, some archaeologists thought this lowland corner of Mayan occupation with few inhabitants. But the complications of the newly discovered website show the opposite. Watching from the large construction, the arrangement of palaces, dams, highways, and pyramids shows that this requires several thousand employees and organized government mechanisms.

To create such a civilization, the most skilled chalk producers, mortar and quarrying experts, mechanics, architects, logisticians, agricultural and law enforcement experts and religious activists were needed. All work under political and ideological homogeneity.

Among the many architectural finds in the area, some researchers are impressed with the impressive arrangement of the causeways, as one of the greatest gains of the ancient Mayans. Overall, the team successfully recognized the 133.22 km road that connects other settlements.

The presence of this transportation network, researchers said, can make some people easily get out of one settlement to another, making it easier for the government to take care of its people.

The large buildings and pyramids found at a number of sites show that the location is considered to be the center of government. They found 30 ball fields spread across all MCKB sites.

In addition, because MCKB does not have a river or lake, the Mayans cleverly created a reservoir to contain water, providing welfare for some of the people who lived there. In all, researchers found 196 reservoirs and a network of channels to carry water around the area.