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This Ancient Maya City Was Hidden in the Jungle for More Than 1,000 Years
Archaeologists surveying the ruins of Ocomtún found pyramids, stone columns and a ballgame court
Sonja Anderson
Daily Correspondent
June 26, 2023
An inscribed stone found at the Ocomtún site Ivan Šprajc via National Institute of Anthropology and History
Researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered the remains of a centuries-old Maya city in the Balamkú ecological reserve on the Yucatán Peninsula.
In a statement, lead archaeologist Ivan Šprajc says the settlement probably served as an important regional center during the Maya Classic period, which spanned 250 to 1000 C.E. The team named the newly discovered ruins Ocomtún—“stone column” in Yucatec Mayan—in honor of the many columns found at the site.
“The biggest surprise turned out to be the site located on a ‘peninsula’ of high ground, surrounded by extensive wetlands,” says Šprajc in the statement, per Google Translate. “Its monumental nucleus covers more than [123 acres] and has various large buildings, including several pyramidal structures [nearly 50 feet] high.”
Ruins of a Ocomtún building, featuring a staircase Ivan Šprajc via National Institute of Anthropology and History
Maya builders often centered their cities around pyramids like the ones found in Ocomtún, with the structures fulfilling religious purposes. Large, climbable pyramids like those at Uxmal and Chichén Itzá were typically used for spiritual training and rituals, including sacrifices, reported Teo Spengler for USA Today in 2018. Others weren’t meant to be touched, instead serving as sacred ornaments and convenient landmarks for navigation. The stone cylinders for which Ocomtún is named likely formed part of the entrances to upper rooms in the city’s buildings.
More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-maya-city-was-hidden-in-the-jungle-for-over-1000-years-180982427/
Archaeologists surveying the ruins of Ocomtún found pyramids, stone columns and a ballgame court
Sonja Anderson
Daily Correspondent
June 26, 2023
An inscribed stone found at the Ocomtún site Ivan Šprajc via National Institute of Anthropology and History
Researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered the remains of a centuries-old Maya city in the Balamkú ecological reserve on the Yucatán Peninsula.
In a statement, lead archaeologist Ivan Šprajc says the settlement probably served as an important regional center during the Maya Classic period, which spanned 250 to 1000 C.E. The team named the newly discovered ruins Ocomtún—“stone column” in Yucatec Mayan—in honor of the many columns found at the site.
“The biggest surprise turned out to be the site located on a ‘peninsula’ of high ground, surrounded by extensive wetlands,” says Šprajc in the statement, per Google Translate. “Its monumental nucleus covers more than [123 acres] and has various large buildings, including several pyramidal structures [nearly 50 feet] high.”
Ruins of a Ocomtún building, featuring a staircase Ivan Šprajc via National Institute of Anthropology and History
Maya builders often centered their cities around pyramids like the ones found in Ocomtún, with the structures fulfilling religious purposes. Large, climbable pyramids like those at Uxmal and Chichén Itzá were typically used for spiritual training and rituals, including sacrifices, reported Teo Spengler for USA Today in 2018. Others weren’t meant to be touched, instead serving as sacred ornaments and convenient landmarks for navigation. The stone cylinders for which Ocomtún is named likely formed part of the entrances to upper rooms in the city’s buildings.
More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-maya-city-was-hidden-in-the-jungle-for-over-1000-years-180982427/
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