Deep within the dense jungles of southern Campeche in Mexico, archaeologists have unearthed a marvel: an expansive, lost Mayan city, now known as Valeriana. Centuries after its flourishing era, the city lay hidden beneath a thick canopy of trees, concealed from modern eyes until its recent rediscovery by a stroke of serendipity.
Using the advanced technology of Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), scientists were able to map and reveal this ancient urban settlement, offering a rare glimpse into a cityscape that has not seen the light of day for well over a thousand years.
The discovery of Valeriana is not merely a finding of historical significance; it is a challenge to our understanding of the Mayan civilisation and the extent of its urban sprawl. With the aid of high-quality Lidar data, collected in 2013 as part of a forest monitoring project led by the Nature Conservancy, researchers scanned 122 square kilometres (47 square miles) of forest in the Campeche region. This study, originally aimed at curbing emissions from deforestation, inadvertently brought to light an ancient metropolis that was marked by extraordinary architectural and infrastructural prowess.
Valeriana boasts an impressive 6,764 structures, revealing an aggregate settlement density of 55.3 structures per square kilometre. This suggests that Valeriana was a populous hub, thriving with activity and organisation. Its grandeur includes massive temple pyramids, enclosed plazas, an impressive amphitheatre and what appears to be a central ballcourt — a traditional site for the Mayan ballgame that held both sporting and ceremonial significance. These features point to a well-organised society with a rich cultural and religious life, structured around public and ritual spaces, residential areas and a comprehensive agricultural infrastructure that likely sustained the city’s population.
The layout of the city reveals two monumental precincts with enclosed plazas, interwoven by broad causeways that connected different districts. Such causeways or sacbeob (meaning white roads in the Mayan language), were crucial in linking key areas within ancient Maya cities. Furthermore, a large reservoir formed by damming an arroyo (a seasonal watercourse) hints at the Mayan’s sophisticated water management practices, which were crucial for sustaining life in this tropical environment.
The Mayan civilisation, which thrived from approximately 250 to 900 AD, spanned present-day southern Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. For many centuries, however, their cities and ceremonial sites were overtaken by jungle. Previously, scholars believed that the Mayan civilisation predominantly consisted of dispersed, smaller settlements. But Valeriana’s grand scale suggests that large, interconnected cities may have been more common than previously thought.