(ORDO NEWS) — Excavations of a major city on the border of Mexico and Guatemala were first carried out almost a century ago.
Even then, its surroundings amazed archaeologists. But new technologies could push the known boundaries of Calakmul even further.
Calakmul is the third capital of the Mayan dynasty, which we know of the Kanul (Serpent) dynasty.
According to modern ideas, the Kingdom of Canul existed from the 1st century BC to the 10th century AD, and it was his actions that largely determined the politics of the Maya in the Late Classic period.
The city was first discovered in 1931 by the American archaeologist Cyrus Lundell. Interestingly, in fact, he was a botanist and went to the jungle to collect a herbarium, but there he came across previously unknown pyramids.
After many years of research, periodically interrupted due to the difficult political situation in the region, archaeologists came to the conclusion that the city they found was Chiknaab (the settlement is called Calakmul), the last capital of the powerful kingdom of the Kanul kingdom or the Serpent kingdom of the Maya.
The area of ​​the city was set at 20 square kilometers. This is about twice the size of the famous ancient Babylon.
Archaeologists have found about five thousand buildings, about a hundred of which are very large public buildings and pyramids.
According to scientists, during its heyday, about 50-60 thousand people lived in the city. But now the new data could significantly boost previous population estimates.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico conducted a lidar survey of 95 square kilometers of jungle adjacent to the previously explored area of ​​Calakmul.
The results showed that under the dense tree population there is a dense and complex urban development. Residential complexes have been found that can be compared with modern apartment buildings. Some of them consisted of more than 60 separate buildings, in which people with different family ties lived.
These huge residential complexes are clustered around numerous temples, shrines and possible markets, the architectural density of which makes Calakmul one of the largest cities in the Americas around 700 AD.
The researchers were surprised by the scale and complexity of urban development revealed by aerial photographs.
They note that the scale of the landscape change could have matched the scale of the urban population because all available land was covered by canals, walls, dams, terraces, and other structures.
The new data is consistent with what can be gleaned from deciphered sources and previous archaeological finds.
According to them, it is known that in the first half of the 7th century, Kanul waged war with his neighbor and main competitor for dominance among the Mayan states – the kingdom of Mutul. Although the ruler of the Serpent Kingdom was killed in this war, the Mutul Kingdom was defeated.
Yuknoom-Ch’een II became king of Kanul and under his rule the kingdom prospered the most.
At the same time, the ruler of the Serpent Dynasty could interfere in the appointment of rulers and their policies in other Maya states. In return, if necessary, military support was promised.
The Mutul kingdom was very unhappy with this state of affairs, so that wars were fought almost constantly.
As a result, the Serpent King died in the 730s, and the alliance that had formed around his country ceased to exist. His successors never managed to restore their former power.
The latest dating of buildings in Calakmulya is 909. If in the future people built something on these lands, then archaeologists have not yet reached them.
However, the Spanish missionary of the 17th century, the Franciscan monk Diego Lopez de Cogoyudo, mentions in his work that an Indian tribe called Canul lived in these places, which gives hope for new discoveries.
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