New Research on the Ancient Yucatan Maya

July 15, 2022

An international team of researchers researching the ancient coastal Maya populations at Vista Alegre and Conil in the Yucatan. On the small island of Vista Alegre, they have uncovered pole and thatch buildings with a pyramid like structure 43 feet tall. The Conil site was encountered by the Spanish who said it had 5,000 houses. They are using cores from the sediments on the coast to determine how rising oceans interfered with drinking water at the sites. They theorize there were springs nearby that were drowned by rising seas. A drone with a thermal camera is looking for past freshwater areas.

They have uncovered thousands of pottery sherds, spindle whorls, and obsidian revealing an extensive trade network based on long distance canoe trade networks. Obsidian came from as far away as central Mexico. 20,000 animal bones of sharks, rays, turtles, gastropods. LIDAR surveys will begin soon looking for house mounds and pyramids.

The research is published here:
]Rescuing ancient Maya history from the plow
More information: Jeffrey B. Glover et al, The Proyecto Costa Escondida: Historical ecology and the study of past coastal landscapes in the Maya area, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology (2022).  DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2022.2061652
Provided by Georgia State University   

Phys.org has the report here:
https://phys.org/news/2022-07-secrets-ancient-coastal-maya.html