5 Incredible curiosities of Peten archaeological parks

26 Aug 2020

The Mayan culture has stood out in the history of humanity for its sophisticated systems of agriculture, arts, and astronomy. It is estimated that at its peak, more than 10 million people lived together in this highly developed society for its time.

We tell you some of the curiosities that include achaeological sites such as Tikal, El mirador, Yaxhá and many others located in Peten:

We don’t know exactly why the cities were abandoned

Although the exact reasons are unknown, archaeologists estimate that the city of El Mirador was abandoned for about 700 years. It was inhabited after the Late Classic and Late Terminal Classic period, but the structures were not repaired, nor were new constructions made at that time.

The case of abandonment in Tikal is quite similar, the reasons why the city stopped working are not yet known. Many assume it was displacement or war, but there is no evidence to support these theories.

The largest archaeological sites in Mesoamerica

Thanks to various researches carried out, it is known that in ancient times this was a dense and interconnected society that existed, even the most experienced archaeologists were surprised by this discovery. This makes the locations of Mayan vestiges one of the largest and richest extensions of this culture in information and structures.

It is not known exactly how much more of the remains of the Mayan culture are located into the space of the Peten jungle, but there is an estimated idea of the extension of these places within Petén.

Cities underground

The archaeological parks of Tikal and El Mirador are two of the most popular for visitors, but something very curious about this is that the parks extend even more than visitors can appreciate. With the help of a high-precision radar called LIDAR, in 2017 other steles and buildings were discovered that allowed archeologists to estimate that these sites were the most important metropolis of the Mayan civilization.

It is not yet known if there are more structures underground, as this analysis was carried out only on 700 square kilometers.

There were roads that connected the cities

Yaxhá is one of the places where you can better appreciate this system of pathways, which connect different areas of each of these places.

It is believed that they were used primarily for trade, although many details about how they work are not yet available.

Numerous river sources

One of the most characteristic factors of this state is the amount of lakes and rivers that are distributed in the surroundings of these Mayan sites, experts analyze that this location could have been one of the most fruitful for the Mayan population, in addition to being an excellent transport route between various places.

It also helps to understand the inventions of complicated irrigation systems, of which there is evidence of their existence and a vague idea of their operation.