[GLOBAL ECONOMIC TIMES]  The discovery of a huge city from the Mayan civilization deep in the jungle of southeastern Mexico is causing great shock to the academic world. According to a BBC report on the 29th (local time), an international research team discovered surprising ruins in a tropical rainforest near Campeche Province using lidar, a radar technology.

This city, named Valeriana, is a complex city with various facilities such as a pyramid, stadium, theater, causeway, and residential areas, and is estimated to be close in size to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is the second largest Maya city discovered to date after Calakmul, and appears to have flourished between 750 and 850 AD. The research team estimates that about 30,000 to 50,000 people lived in this city.

Interestingly, these ruins were discovered through LiDAR research data from an environmental group discovered accidentally during a Google search. The research team confirmed the existence of Valeriana by reinterpreting this data using archaeological methods. In particular, this discovery is expected to serve as evidence to overturn the existing theory that the Mayans regarded the rainforest as a land of death and avoided it. The research team emphasized that the tropical rainforest was an important base that led to the prosperity of the Mayan civilization.

The Mayan civilization flourished around present-day southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador from around 2500 BC, but suddenly declined around the 10th century. Environmental destruction due to excessive population growth is known to be the main cause.

LiDAR technology specialized for forest terrain is excellent for finding Mayan ruins hidden in dense jungle. The discovery of Valeriana is considered an example of new possibilities in the study of Mayan civilization using LiDAR technology. It is expected that more Mayan ruins will be discovered through LiDAR technology in the future, and the mysteries of the Mayan civilization will be revealed one after another.