8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists uncover a 1,500-year-old Lost Mayan city in the Yucatan

Researchers have presented their findings after discovering the remnants of an ancient Mayan city on a building site in Mexico. The site hosts an array of palaces and other buildings.

Archaeologists working in the Yucatan region of Mexico have revealed the remains of a 1500 years old Mayan city, local media reported on Friday.

The discovery was made by archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) near Merida in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

The city of Xiol — which means “the spirit of man” in Mayan — is believed to have been the home of some 4,000 people between 600 and 900 CE, during the late classic period. During the 9th century, many Maya polities collapsed, leading to the abandonment of cities, the ending of dynasties, and a northward shift in inactivity.

Photo: INAH

Archaeologists first found the site in 2015, but the results of the excavations and restoration work are only now being made public as the Sky Park industrial site nears completion.

“The discovery of this Mayan city is important for its monumental architecture and because it has been restored despite being located on private land,” delegate for the INAH center in Yucatan, Arturo Chab Cardenas, told news agency EFE.

The site is of particular interest due to its Puuc style architecture — famously used for the Chichen Itza pyramid — which is more typically found in the southern part of the Yucatan region. The ceremonial complex consists of a platform and a small pyramid.

Researchers also uncovered palace ruins, plazas, elevated platforms, carved stone heads, and stone altars, as well as a cenote that was most likely utilized for ritual offerings to the Maya gods.

Alongside the finds, archaeologists highlighted evidence of the various social classes that lived here.

“There were people from different social classes … priests, scribes, who lived in these great palaces, and there were also the common people who lived in small buildings,” Carlos Peraza, one of the archaeologists leading the excavations, said.

Photo: INAH

“With time, urban sprawl (in the area) has grown and many of the archaeological remains have been destroyed … but even we as archaeologists are surprised, because we did not expect to find a site so well preserved,” Peraza added.

38 funerary deposits containing offerings of ceramics, jewelry, obsidian, and flint tools were exhumed by archaeologists, revealing new anthropological data on the inhabitants of Xiol and their burial customs. Remains of marine life suggest that the inhabitants complemented their agricultural-based diets by fishing.

The team has so far identified and restored 12 structures, with further evidence of wider archaeological remains in the surrounding fields and low-lying jungle.

Several tools and ceramics dating back as far as the pre-classic period (700-350 BCE) were also displayed by the researchers.

Cover Photo: INAH

Related Articles

A Gold Belt Weighing 432 Grams Unearthed During Excavations in Ani Ruins is on Display

2 July 2024

2 July 2024

The gold belt discovered 22 years ago during excavations in the ancient city of Ani, often referred to as the...

The mystery of the silver bracelets of Queen Hetepheres in her celebrated tomb at Giza solved

2 June 2023

2 June 2023

The discovery of silver bracelets in the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I, wife of Pharaoh Snofru and mother of Pharaoh...

Exploring the life story of a high-status woman from isotope data in Hungary’s largest Bronze Age cemetery

29 July 2021

29 July 2021

Researchers examined 29 tombs from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of Hungary’s largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries, and one of them, a high-status...

Australia’s 1,400-year-old Mysterious Earth Rings: Evidence of Millennia of Human Effort, Not Natural Formation

21 January 2025

21 January 2025

A chain of mysterious earth rings in the Sunbury hills at the fringe of Melbourne, in Australia have been found...

Votive Altar Dedicated to Basque Deity Larrahe Found in Medieval Well

23 June 2024

23 June 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman-era votive altar dedicated to the ancient Basque deity Larrahe at the medieval monastery of Doneztebe...

Researchers believe mass immigration to Orkney during the Bronze Age was mostly led by women

8 February 2022

8 February 2022

Researchers believe mass immigration to Orkney during the Bronze Age was mostly led by women.  Mass migration to Orkney during...

The Gallo-Roman Sanctuary Unearthed in France

30 June 2024

30 June 2024

During a recent archaeological excavation in the old Hôtel Dieu neighborhood of Rennes in north-western France, archaeologists discovered the remains...

The Stonehenge road tunnel is illegal, according to the High Court

23 June 2021

23 June 2021

The transport secretary’s decision to allow a road tunnel to be built near Stonehenge was unlawful, according to the high...

Hundreds of oil lamps discovered in Aigai, “the City of Goats”

23 September 2023

23 September 2023

During the ongoing excavations in the Aigai Ancient City, located near the Yuntdağı Köseler Village of Manisa province in western...

The Earliest Evidence of Christianity on Bulgarian Territory Found in Roman city of Deultum

13 July 2024

13 July 2024

A silver amulet was discovered during excavations of the Deultum-Debelt National Archaeological Reserve, near the village of Debelt in the...

A surprising discovery in Lublin countryside! Ancient figurines of Egyptian and Roman gods found

6 May 2023

6 May 2023

Two ancient figurines depicting the Egyptian god Osiris and a bust of the Roman god Bacchus were found in the...

409 silver coins, found in the Mleiha area of Sharjah, were inspired by Alexander the Great and the Seleucid dynasty

17 July 2021

17 July 2021

409 silver coins dating to the 3rd century have been found in the Mleiha area of Sharjah in the United...

A Giant Stone Panel Discovered in Mexico Reveals the Name of a Previously Unknown Maya King’s

14 August 2024

14 August 2024

Archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a fascinating panel containing an extensive Maya hieroglyphic...

Archaeologists have pinpointed the location of a famous early Islamic battle using declassified spy satellite images

14 November 2024

14 November 2024

Archaeologists from Durham University in the UK and the University of Al-Qadisiyah have identified the site of the historic Battle...

Researchers find evidence of the destruction of the Second Temple at the hands of Roman soldiers

29 July 2023

29 July 2023

Israeli researchers find evidence of the destruction of the Second Temple at the hands of Roman soldiers. The discovery of...