Lost Mayan city found in Mexico

Chactun has been hidden for centuries in the rain forests of eastern Mexico, and it consisted of 15 pyramids, including one 23 meters high.

Archaeologists have found an ancient Mayan city that for centuries has been hidden in the rainforests of eastern Mexico, and they are hoping that they will provide new data about the collapse of civilization 1,000 years ago.

The team, led by John Šprajc, professor of Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences, has found 15 pyramids, including one 23 meters high, fields, beach and high stone wall. The city was named Chactun, meaning "red rocks" or "great rock."

Šprajc says that the city is likely to be less populated than Tikal in Guatemala, and in it there were between 30,000 and 40,000 people, although additional research is needed to give an exact number. Chactu was probably the peak experienced in the late classic period of Mayan civilization between 600 and 900, said Šprajc Reuters.

The professor said that the city, which is spread over 22 acres and is located 120 kilometers from Četumala, one of the largest found in Yucatan. The closest populated place is the town Ksipuhil, 25 kilometers away.

"The whole city is covered jungle," said the archaeologist. 

And while the city was unknown to the academic community, Šprajc found evidence that the city about 20 to 30 years ago was visiting by people, but since no one went there.

"Ax Men have certainly spent time there as you can see notches on the trees. But nobody said nothing, "said Šprajc.

This professor is a city "discovered" looking photos into aerial 15 years ago. His team has three weeks cleared the 16-mile-long path through the jungle to reach the city. After the six weeks of mapped place and documented monuments, blocked access to prevent unauthorized entry.

The presence of more of the playing ball is proof that Čaktun was an important city, is considered Šprajc. Most likely it was abandoned 1,000 years ago, probably due to demographic pressures, climate change, wars and rebellion.On hopes of finding shed new light on the relations between the different regions of the Mayan empire during this period.

The Mayan civilization was one of the most advanced in pre-Columbian America and the Maya ruled much of the Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. Tikal, which were first discovered by archaeologists in the late 19th century, had 90,000 inhabitants.