Scientists using an aerial remote-sensing method have discovered the largest and oldest-known structure built by the ancient Maya civilisation — a colossal rectangular elevated platform built between 1,000 and 800 BC in Mexico’s Tabasco state.

The structure, unlike the soaring Maya pyramids at cities like Tikal in Guatemala and Palenque in Mexico erected some 1,500 years later, was not built of stone but rather of clay and earth, and likely was used for mass rituals, researchers said.

Located at a site called Aguada Fenix near the Guatemalan border, the structure measured nearly 400 meters in width, 1,400 meters in length and stood 33 to 10 to 15 meters in height. 

In total volume, it exceeded ancient Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza built 1,500 years earlier.

There were no signs of sculptures depicting high-status individuals, suggesting Maya culture at this early stage was more communal and only later developed social inequality and a hierarchical society led by royalty, the researchers said.

“Because it is so large horizontally, if you walk on it, it just looks like a natural landscape,” said University of Arizona archaeologist Takeshi Inomata, who led the research published in the journal Nature. “But its form comes out nicely in lidar,” he said. 

Nine large causeways and a series of reservoirs were linked to the structure. Some parts of the rural Aguada Fenix site today are covered with cattle ranches. Other parts are wooded.

“It is probable that many people from surrounding areas gathered for special occasions, possibly tied to calendrical cycles. The rituals probably involved processions along the causeways and within the rectangular plaza. The people also deposited symbolic objects such as jade axes in the center of the plateau,” Inomata said.

What is lidar technique?

Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote-sensing technique that employs a pulsed laser and other data obtained flying over a site to generate three-dimensional information about the shape of surface characteristics.

These light pulses, combined with other data recorded by the airborne system, generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.

A lidar instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver. Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring lidar data over broad areas. 

Maya civilisation

Originating in the Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient Maya civilisation occupied a vast area of Mesoamerica between 2500 BC and 1200 AD.

Today, the territory of Maya is divided among Mexico and several Central American countries like Guatemala and Belize. 

The Mayans produced remarkable architecture, paintings, pottery and sculpture.

They made outstanding advances in astronomy and mathematics and developed an accurate yearly calendar. 

They were one of the first in western hemisphere with an advanced form of writing. It consisted of many symbols and formed a kind of hieroglyphic writing. 

Dots and dashes represented numbers and a special symbol represented zero. 

They built tall pyramids of limestone and small temples on top. They kept records on large stone monuments called ‘stelae’ as well as some buildings.

The Mayan civilisation rose to a cultural florescence from 250 AD and continued to flourish for more than 600 years. This is known as the Classic period.  

Then, between 800 and 950 AD, many southern cities were abandoned and most cultural activities ceased. This period is known by archaeologists as the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization. The Mayans, never able to regain their cultural or geographical prominence, were assimilated into other Mesoamerican civilizations until the time of the Spanish Conquest in 1530 AD.

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