In a recent interview, researchers involved in a joint U.S.-Guatemala archaeological project said they had discovered 417 Mayan cities dating back about 3,000 years, connected by 117 kilometers of “superhighways,” according to The Washington Post on May 20. The researchers called it the world’s first highway system.
The discovery, announced in December 2022, is forcing historians to rethink their understanding of the ancient Maya civilization. The discovery of a network of roads and cities, irrigation systems and agricultural infrastructure suggests that the communities living in Central America were more advanced than previously thought.
La Danta Pyramid in northern Guatemala. Deep in a dense jungle, researchers have found evidence of a system of hundreds of ancient Mayan cities.
Screenshot The Washington Post
The new findings reflect “socioeconomic organization and political power,” according to the study. The Lost World dates back to 1,000 BC to the preclassic period of the Maya, who were once considered a nomadic, hunter-gatherer society.
The new discovery from the El Mirador jungle area in northern Guatemala is “a game changer,” Richard Hansen, lead author of the study and professor of archaeology at Idaho State University, told The Washington Post .
"We now know that the Preclassic period was a time of architectural sophistication and complexity, with some of the largest buildings in world history being built during this time," said Hansen, adding that the new findings revealed "a huge part of human history that we never knew about."
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The team, which included scientists from the US and Guatemala, has been mapping areas in Central America since 2015 and has used lidar technology – an archaeological mapping technique using lasers – to detect minute details, such as ancient vegetation. This has allowed scientists to see dams, reservoirs, pyramids, causeway networks and even ancient ball courts, according to the study.
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