Hundreds of years after its downfall, the Maya empire still holds plenty of secrets. The pre-Columbian civilization started over 4,000 years ago and at its peak sprawled throughout what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. While archaeologists have mapped and explored much of this region, new research suggests that there’s far more to this former empire that remains undiscovered.
Published today in the journal Antiquity, a new paper spearheaded by researchers at Tulane University reveals previously unknown Maya settlements, including an urban center in Campeche, Mexico, a region of the Maya Lowlands that archaeologists have historically not paid attention to. This discovery underscores the fact that much of the Maya civilization remains unknown to archaeologists.
