There was not a single known site in an area stretching some 3,000-4,000 sq km." "But this, was actually the last major black hole on the archaeological map of the central Maya Lowlands (the modern-day central Yucatán Peninsula). Nobody knew exactly where they were" Šprajc told BBC Travel in his first interview since Ocomtún's discovery. Pottery examined from the site indicates it was likely inhabited between 600 and 800 CE. He named the site Ocomtún ("stone column" in Yucatec Mayan) after the many cylindrical columns also scattered throughout the settlement. Late last month, the archaeologist and his team located the remains of an ancient, abandoned Maya city home to numerous pyramid-shaped structures rising more than 15m nestled deep within Mexico's Balamkú Ecological Conservation Zone. Yet, it is Šprajc's latest discovery that is now drawing worldwide attention. A year later, they located two more Maya cities – Lagunita and Tamchén – which each featured pyramid temples, plazas and intricately carved stele that seemed to have been mysteriously abandoned around 1,200 years ago. In 2013, the Slovenian archaeologist and his team unearthed a previously unknown 40,000-person city dating to the 8th Century that had been swallowed by the rainforest called Chactún. Once described by The Guardian as " the real-life Indiana Jones", Šprajc has spent nearly 30 years hacking his way through the remote tangles of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula to find long-lost Maya cities buried deep in the jungle. You have to suffer a little if you want to find something that few people have ever seen that was hidden for so many centuries." "You have to be careful about the snakes, insects, jaguars and everything else. "You need to be a little crazy for this work," said Dr Ivan Šprajc, taking a drag of his cigarette and staring at me with ice-blue eyes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |