Maya Ruins

Submitted by MalcolmJ on Tue, 06/02/2009 - 13:34

At its peak from around 250-900 AD, Maya civilization was one of the most densely populated and culturally dynamic societies in the world. Its many ancient ruins scattered across modern day Central America are as striking and iconic as any that can be seen today in Egypt, Italy, Greece or China.

And some of Maya’s finest architectural treasures may still remain undiscovered. Geographically, the Maya region was vast and varied, stretching from the borders of present day southern Mexico through Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador into western Honduras, encompassing landscape ranging from the mountainous regions of the Sierra Madre to the semi-arid plains of northern Yucatán.

Rugged and covered heavily with dense, impenetrable forest in many places, the area’s geography, topography and vegetation present no shortage of challenges to archaeologists. Explorers can stumble right through an ancient city that once housed thousands and not even realise it. Only a small number of documented Maya sites have so far been excavated, while most are probably yet to even be located. It’s a challenge that has led experts to pioneer novel and hi-tech techniques for detecting ancient ruins – techniques that may go a long way to answering the greatest Maya mystery of them all.

Important Maya Sites

Think of Maya culture and the first site that is likely to spring to mind is the ruined city of Chichen Itza on the Yucatán Peninsula in present-day Mexico – for centuries the centre of Maya culture, today one of Mexico’s most popular tourist attractions and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Its great stepped pyramid “El Castillo” is its most recognisable feature (even if it is technically a Post-Classic Toltec-influenced structure, built sometime between the 10th and 13th centuries). Examples of Classic period Maya ruins at the site include the Casa de las Monjas governmental palace and the observatory El Caracol.

Other significant Maya sites are the large city of Coba, 56 miles east of Chichen Itza in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, with its group of temple pyramids known as Nohoch Mul, and the kingdom of Copán in western Honduras, with its acropolis complex of overlapping step-pyramids, plazas, and palaces, and its remarkable series of portrait stelae – beautiful examples of Maya decorative art.

The city of Calakmul in the Mexican state of Campeche is the most structure-rich Maya site, with 6,750 ancient ruins, the largest of which is the 55 meter great pyramid (the tallest example of all Maya architecture). At Tikal – which sits in the lowland rainforest of northern Guatemala – temple pyramids jut strikingly above the tree line, while Palenque, in Chapas, Mexico, boasts some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings the Maya produced, despite its relatively small size.

Common Structures

The Maya sites discovered so far vary in size and composition, but some common major structures have been found in many of them. Temple pyramids – because of their centrality to most cities, not to their mention sheer size – are the most obvious examples. Their towering height was intended to elevate Maya worshippers as close as possible to the heavens.

Observatories have been identified in many Maya sites. The Maya were keen astronomers, and mapped out the phases of celestial objects, especially the Moon and Venus (many features of other structures correspond with celestial events). Limestone ceremonial platforms, of typically less than four meters in height, are in evidence at many locations – these were where public ceremonies and religious rites were performed.

Large and often highly decorated palaces, which would have once housed the civilization’s regional elite, are central to most Maya cities. Ballcourts are also common sights – huge venues for an ancient ritual ball game, which are usually defined by two long, usually sloping, walls; proof that South American enthusiasm for ball games ran deep many centuries before they became masters of modern day soccer.

Finding Maya Ruins

The jungle had overgrown most Maya ruins by the time of the Spanish arrival in Mexico in the 16th century, but some sites never actually fell out of use or common knowledge. Chichen Itza, for instance, was initially earmarked as a potential capital by the Spanish, before later becoming a cattle ranch, while its Cenote Sagrado sinkhole – which was used for ritual sacrifices – remained a place of Maya pilgrimage for generations. Knowledge of the expansive Coba too was never completely lost either, although the city wasn’t examined by scholars until the 1920s, or subject to easy access until a road was opened to the site – for tourism purposes – in the 1970s. Tikal could only be properly accessed after 1951 when a small airstrip was built at the ruins.

Other sites were consumed by the jungle altogether. Calakmul was only rediscovered after it was flown over in an airplane by biologist Cyrus L. Lundell in December 1931; Nakbe too, in the El Petén region of Guatemala, was only located as a result of aerial photography. Piedras Negras and Naranjo – which both also lie in the El Petén region – were rediscovered by archaeologist Teoberto Maler in the late 19th and early 20th centuries respectively after an extensive search of the jungle region. After lying undiscovered for over a thousands years, Yaxchilan in Chiapas, Mexico, was located in 1882 when explorers Alfred Maudslay and Désiré Charnay ironically arrived there within days of each other.

Eyes in the Sky

As well as their immense skill for architecture, the Maya civilization also had marked interest in and knowledge of astrology and the heavens. So it seems appropriate that NASA should be playing a key role in discovering ancient Maya ruins in the jungles of Central America.

Together with university scientists, the United States’ space agency are using space and aircraft-based “remote-sensing” technology to uncover ruins, by detecting the chemical signature of ancient building materials and the effects these materials had on nearby vegetation. The energy wavelengths emitted by loose dirt covering old Mayan buildings is different than that given off by other soil. Additionally, Mayan agriculture changed the nutrients and moisture levels of the land, while the limestone of their building blocks altered the chemicals in the soil; these changes effect the energy emitted by trees growing over ruins, which changes the way they look from space too.

In 2004, the team – led by NASA archaeologist Tom Sever and scientist Dan Irwin – ground-tested the data, by hiking deep into the Guatemalan jungle to locations guided by these satellite images, where they uncovered a series of Maya settlements exactly where the technology had predicted they would be. Under a NASA Space Act Agreement with the University of New Hampshire, the science team will visit Guatemala throughout 2009 to verify their research and continue refining their remote sensing tools, in order to more easily lead explorers to other ancient ruins in the region.

Lessons For The Future?

One of the deep mysteries that hangs over research of Maya civilization is what brought about its rapid demise. Many Maya centers of the southern lowlands are known to have gone into decline during the 8th and 9th centuries, and been abandoned shortly thereafter – but it’s not clear why. Some scientists have speculated that their people fell prey to a number of cataclysmic environmental problems, including deforestation and – possibly as a consequence – drought.

Using climate models to determine the effects of Maya-driven deforestation on the ancient Mesoamerican climate is another aim of the NASA team’s work. The goal of this effort is to determine whether deforestation can lead to droughts and if the activities of the ancient Maya drove the environmental changes that undermined their civilization. If the evidence proves compelling, it may resonate widely in a world presently on edge about the long-term effects of modern day climate change.

“The world continues to battle the devastating effects of drought today, from the arid plains of Africa to the southern United States,” NASA scientist Irwin told The Panama News. “The more we know about the plight of the Maya, the better our chances of avoiding something similar.”

Read or leave comments

About The Author

Malcolm Jack

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.

Last three pieces by this author: Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge 3: Should the British Museum Return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt?, Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge 2: Winner Announced!, Seeing King Tut: Tutankhamun Virtual Experienes, Sites, Artefacts and Exhibitions Around the World

Interesting Articles

The Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids

A recent massive excavation project has revealed a remarkable complex of pyramids in Bosnia. Principal Investigator Semir Sam Osmanagich describes his incredible discoveries.

Pyramids Around the World

Pyramids have become synonymous with Ancient Egypt, but there are in fact pyramidal structures as far afield as Europe and Asia. Here are some of the biggest and best from around the world - with not a Pharoah in sight.

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza has witnessed a thousand years of human civilization in South America. Its great pyramid 'El Castillo' is an iconic and instantly recognisable sight, while the 'cenote' sinkholes that give the place its name bear a macabre legacy of life and death.

Interesting Publications