In the Mexican Yucatan peninsula, thanks to laser scanning, a huge Mayan city was discovered.
The settlement has more than 6,600 structures, including pyramids similar to those located in Chichen Itza and Tikal.
The author of the study, Luke Old-Thomas, from the Department of Anthropology at Tulane University (USA), studied previous work in this region.
One of them was made to monitor the level of carbon in Mexican forests. It is on such maps that scientists have noticed the traces of an ancient settlement, they report Noi.md with reference to
The city was named Valeriana in honor of the freshwater lagoon near which it is located. It probably dates from the classical period (AD 250-900).
The settlement has the characteristics of a Mayan political capital, including plazas connected by a wide bridge, pyramids, and a ball court. Far from the central area, a dense construction was preserved, with terraces and houses.
