17 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Surprising Discovery: In Guatemala, archaeologists uncover hidden neighborhood in the ancient Maya city

A recent lidar analysis revealed, the region surrounding Central Tikal’s Lost World Complex, which was long thought to be a natural hill, is actually a 1,800-year-old destroyed stronghold.

Scientists have been excavating the ruins of Tikal, an ancient Maya city in modern-day Guatemala, since the 1950s, and Tikal has become one of the world’s best understood and most thoroughly studied archaeological sites as a result of those many decades spent documenting details.

However, a stunning new finding by the Pacunam Lidar Initiative, a research partnership led by a Brown University anthropologist, has ancient Mesoamerican academics all around the world questioning if they know Tikal, as well as they, think.

Using light-sensing and ranging software or lidar, Stephen Houston, professor of anthropology at Brown University, and Thomas Garrison, assistant professor of geography at the University of Texas at Austin, found that what had long been considered the nature area of ​​The Hills at a distance walking distance from downtown Tikal was in fact a neighborhood of ruined buildings that were designed to look like those in Teotihuacan, the largest and most powerful city in ancient Americas.

The results, including lidar images and a summary of excavation findings, was published today (Tuesday, September 28, 2021) in the journal Antiquity.

Filtered lidar highlighting the structures and quarrying. Structures in an ancient Mayan city thought to be natural hills are actually the ruins of buildings designed to look like those found in the powerful city of Teotihuacen
Filtered lidar highlighting the structures and quarrying. Structures in an ancient Mayan city thought to be natural hills are actually the ruins of buildings designed to look like those found in the powerful city of Teotihuacan. Photo: Antiquity

The lidar research, along with an excavation by a team of Guatemalan archaeologists led by Edwin Román Ramrez, has revealed fresh information and new questions about Teotihuacan’s impact on the Maya civilization.

“What we had taken to be natural hills actually were shown to be modified and conformed to the shape of the citadel — the area that was possibly the imperial palace — at Teotihuacan,” Stephen Houston said. “Regardless of who built this smaller-scale replica and why it shows without a doubt that there was a different level of interaction between Tikal and Teotihuacan than previously believed.”

The cities of Tikal and Teotihuacan were radically different areas, Houston added. Tikal, a Maya city, was fairly populous but relatively small in scale — “you could have walked from one end of the kingdom to the other in a day, maybe two” — while Teotihuacan had all the marks of an empire. Though little is known about the people who founded and governed Teotihuacan, it’s clear that, like the Romans, their influence extended far beyond their metropolitan center: Evidence shows they shaped and colonized countless communities hundreds of miles away.

Houston stated that anthropologists have known for decades that the two towns’ residents were in contact and frequently traded with one another for centuries before Teotihuacan conquered Tikal in 378 A.D.

Stephen Houston, a professor of anthropology at Brown University, and Thomas Garrison, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Texas at Austin, made the surprising  discovery
Stephen Houston, a professor of anthropology at Brown University, and Thomas Garrison, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Texas at Austin, made the surprising discovery

However, the latest lidar data and excavations by the study team show that the imperial authority in modern-day Mexico did more than merely trade with and culturally impact the smaller city of Tikal before conquering it.

“The architectural complex we found very much appears to have been built for people from Teotihuacan or those under their control. Perhaps it was something like an embassy complex, but when we combine previous research with our latest findings, it suggests something more heavy-handed, like occupation or surveillance. At the very least, it shows an attempt to implant part of a foreign city plan on Tikal” Houston said.

Excavations after the lidar work, directed by Román Ramrez, proved that certain structures were built with mud plaster rather than the typical Maya limestone, according to Houston. The structures were meant to be miniature copies of the buildings that make up Teotihuacan’s citadel, even down to the elaborate cornices and terraces and the complex’s platforms’ unique 15.5-degree east-of-north orientation.

Archaeologists discovered projectile points manufactured with flint, a material typically used by the Maya, and green obsidian, a material commonly used by Teotihuacan inhabitants, at a nearby, freshly unearthed complex of residential structures, providing seeming evidence of conflict.

The consortium’s ongoing research is authorized by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemala and funded by Guatemala’s PACUNAM Foundation, in partnership with the United States-based Hitz Foundation.

Published online by Cambridge University Press.

Related Articles

Radiocarbon dating makes it possible for the first time to check the extent to which archaeological findings match historical events from written sources

17 November 2023

17 November 2023

Researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences have published a new radiocarbon dataset for Tel Gezer, one of the most...

‘Incredibly Rare’ Roman Mausoleum Unearthed Near London Bridge Station

13 June 2023

13 June 2023

Archaeologists report discovering an “incredibly rare” and featured preserved floors and walls Roman mausoleum near London Bridge Station, UK. Archaeologists...

Ancient scrolls reveal astonishing information about the life of a Nabatean woman, who lived in the first century AD in Petra

18 December 2023

18 December 2023

Petra was the capital of a powerful trading empire two thousand years ago. It was established by the Nabateans, a...

Teacher unearthed stone with ancient ogham writing from Ireland in Coventry garden

9 May 2024

9 May 2024

A geography teacher, Graham Senior, stumbled across a rock with mysterious incisions while tidying his overgrown garden in Coventry, England. ...

Archaeologists unearth mosaic floors in the ruins of a building they believe is the lost Church of the Apostles

23 October 2021

23 October 2021

In the historical village of Bethsaida on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, archaeologists discovered mosaic floors in the...

White grape pips found in the Negev dated may be the oldest of its kind worldwide

29 April 2023

29 April 2023

Researchers from the University of York, Tel Aviv University, and the University of Copenhagen provide new insight into the mystery...

HS2 archaeologists discover Romanization of Iron Age village in Britain

12 January 2022

12 January 2022

Archaeologists have uncovered a vast Roman trading town on Britain’s HS2 high-speed rail route. Evidence found during a dig of...

8,000-year-old Cave paintings found in Türkiye’s İnkaya Cave depict life and death

10 September 2023

10 September 2023

A number of cave paintings dating back some 8,000 years have been found in İnkaya cave in the Marmara province...

New Archaeological Discoveries in Abu Dhabi shed light on Umm an-Nar Bronze Age culture (2700-2000 BCE)

1 February 2024

1 February 2024

New findings demonstrate the resilience and inventiveness of local Bronze Age societies (Umm an-Nar Bronze Age culture), as well as...

Hoysala temples inch closer towards UNESCO recognition

7 February 2022

7 February 2022

The Indian Union government recently proposed the Somanathapura temple in Mysuru district and Chennakeshava and Hoysaleshwara temples in Belur and...

Poseidon’s Trident Discovered in Lake İznik

4 May 2025

4 May 2025

The depths of Lake İznik have yielded a discovery of profound significance, instantly captivating historians and archaeologists. The recent recovery...

Iraq’s historic Arch of Ctesiphon undergoes restoration work

28 November 2021

28 November 2021

Iraq’s Arch of Ctesiphon, the world’s largest brick-built arch, is having restoration work to return it to its former splendour,...

Rare Astrolabe Discovered in Verona Sheds Light On Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Scientific Exchange

6 March 2024

6 March 2024

An eleventh-century rare astrolabe bearing Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions was recently discovered in a museum in Verona, Italy. It dates...

The World’s oldest and first swords ever discovered

11 March 2023

11 March 2023

The 5,000-year-old swords found 43 years ago during the excavations in the old mud-brick palace structure in Malatya Arslantepe Mound...

New Study Exposes Origins of Welsh Dragons

7 June 2024

7 June 2024

In a new study conducted by a team from the University of Bristol and published in the Proceedings of the...