Ivan Ṡprajc / InahRemnants of an ancient 500,000 m2 city occupied between 250 AD and 1,000 ADIvan Ṡprajc / Inah
Mexican and Slovenian researchers located an ancient Mayan city, including the ruins of stone pyramids up to 15 meters (m) high, buildings, squares, and an acropolis (an elevated rectangular structure usually used by the elite), in the Balamku ecological reserve in southeastern Mexico. Because of its numerous cylindrical stone columns, the archaeological site earned the name Ocomtún, which means “stone column” in Yucatec Mayan. It may have been an important urban settlement during the Classical Period (250 AD–1000 AD). A group led by Ivan Šprajc, an archaeologist from the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, traveled more than 60 kilometers through dense forest to reach the ruins, which they located using a remote sensing technique known as LiDAR (light detection and ranging), which can identify structures hidden in the forest. “The biggest surprise turned out to be the site located on a ‘peninsula’ on high ground, surrounded by extensive wetlands. Its monumental nucleus covers more than 50 hectares and has various large buildings,” Šprajc said in a statement issued by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
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