Ancient Mayan City With "Pyramid-Like Buildings" Found Deep In Mexican Forest

A team of archaeologists has discovered a previously unknown ancient Mayan city while exploring the deep forests of Mexico, according to a report in New York Post. The researchers from the Archaeology Council of the National Institute of Anthropology and History have name the city Ocumtun, which means "stone column" in the Yucatec Maya language, the outlet further said. The city includes large pyramid-like buildings, stone columns, three plazas with "imposing buildings" and other structures arranged in almost-concentric circles, as per Reuters.

The institute said the city was likely an important centre more than a thousand years ago.

"The site served as an important centre at the regional level, probably during the Classic period (250-1000 AD)," team leader Ivan Sprajc said in a statement.

The city also had a ball court. Pre-Hispanic ball games, widespread throughout the Maya region, consist of passing a rubber ball representing the Sun across a court without the use of hands and getting it through a small stone hoop. The game is believed to have had an important religious purpose.

The site probably declined around 800 to 1000 AD judging from materials extracted from buildings, he said, adding this was likely a reflection of "ideological and population changes" that led to the collapse of Maya societies in that region by the 10th century.

The researchers trekked through 60 kilometres of thick vegetation, finding the city in the Balamku ecological reserve in the Mexican state of Campeche.

The site is spread across more than 50 hectares, as per ABC News.

The Maya civilisation, known for its advanced mathematical calendars, spanned southeast Mexico and parts of Central America. Widespread political collapse led to its decline centuries before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, whose military campaigns saw the last stronghold fall in the late 17th century.