Posted on 12/09/2024 10:28:12 PM PST by Red Badger
The pyramid structure has been hidden for centuries.
Image credit: CINAH Hidalgo
Construction workers have stumbled across the ruins of a large pyramid along the side of a highway in Mexico. After being alerted to the discovery, archaeologists collected dozens of other artifacts from the site that will be closely studied in the lab over the next few months.
The structure was unearthed in June 2024 during the construction of a third lane on a federal highway in Hidalgo, east-central Mexico.
Archaeologists at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) headed to the scene to carry out an investigation. After surveying the area with an aerial drone, their team collected 155 samples, including pieces of ceramics, stone tools, and animal shells.
To safeguard the relic, the archaeological authorities approved the construction of a large wall around the pyramid, measuring 43 meters (141 feet) in length and 11.7 meters (38 feet) in height.
The structure is part of a pre-Hispanic settlement known as San Miguel, which is dated between the Epiclassic period (650-950 CE) and the Late Postclassic period (1350-1519 CE). This was a period when the area was under the control of the “Metzca lordship”, which the INAH says left a “multi-ethnic imprint” until at least the 16th century CE.
However, the history of human activity goes back much further in the surrounding region, with the earliest settlements dating back at least 14,000 years.
It’s still unclear how many pre-Hispanic structures are lying hidden in Mexico, as well as Central America and South America, but recent years have revealed a wealth of new discoveries.
Many of these can be attributed to LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to reveal a world hidden from the naked eye. It uses reflected light to generate information about the shape and characteristics of objects that might otherwise be hidden by vegetation, the ground, or other structures. It’s proved to be especially fruitful in tropical regions where long-lost archaeological features have become swamped by vegetation.
Just last year, the INAH used LiDAR to reveal traces of an 18-kilometer (11-mile) long highway that connected Maya cities over 1,200 years ago. Further south in present-day Guatemala, the imaging technique has also revealed evidence of a previously unknown Maya civilization made up of 964 interconnected settlements linked together with 177 kilometers (110 miles) of ancient roads.
These discoveries are a solid reminder that the pre-Columbian world was vibrant and incredibly complex long before its untimely demise in the modern era with the arrival of European colonizers.
Where did you extract that?
I’d like to see the references to 6 and 7.
I did not know there were books in the new world prior to Europeans - thank you for educating me on that. You were right
i just grabbed that quickly off wiki, however as a history buff interested in the Americas, I have several books in my library that reference the codices. Unfortunately the Spanish inquisition were at their peak about the time of the new world expeditions, and they would not tolerate the images that appeared to be the languages of devils and demons to exist. The whole histories of civilizations gone up in smoke. It ranks right up there with the decision given by Pope Nicolas V in a papal bull to the Portuguese after Antao Goncalves brought Africans he had traded for back to Portugal. Sometimes people just screw up royally .
“construction of a third lane on a federal highway in Hidalgo”
A third lane in Mexico? That could add an interesting dynamic to driving (and hoping to stay alive) in Meh-hee-coh.
“Many of these can be attributed to LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to reveal a world hidden from the naked eye. It uses reflected light to generate information about the shape and characteristics of objects that might otherwise be hidden by vegetation, the ground, or other structures. It’s proved to be especially fruitful in tropical regions where long-lost archaeological features have become swamped by vegetation.”
This technology is enabling that exploration. Quite an amazing technology!
Interesting - that is a big gap in my knowledge. My historical knowledge is mainly focused on the Indo-European and Semitic and Elamo-Sumerian-Dravidian space (overlapping spaces) .
I really thought that the MesoAmericans had only stone pictographs...
Can you loot the stone to build an ancient like Airbnb?
The third lane is for passing. They don’t have a third lane but it is accepted to pass where the muchacha in front of you moves over and the señor de la droga coming at you does the same while you pass.
Well yeah, there are a lot of roadside cliffs in the area to collect stones from.
I need robots for labor through....ELON!!!!
Ha ha. I still have occasional flashbacks to driving in Mexico years ago.
The Sahara, too, is giving up its secrets to satellite and LiDAR. Makes sense that 6,000 years ago folks lived there in what was a fertile Savannah at the time.
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