The Mayan's 2,000-year-old highway system

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old, 240-km-long Mayan highway system in the ancient city of El Mirador, Guatemala.

The 2,000-year-old Mayan highway system in Guatemala. Photo: Archaeological Project Cuenca Mirador.

A research team from the Mirador Basin archaeological project discovered a 2,000-year-old, 240-kilometer-long Mayan highway system in the ancient city of El Mirador, in the Mirador Basin region of Guatemala, Ancient Origins reported yesterday.

El Mirador, located in the Peten rainforest in northern Guatemala, is the largest Mayan city with an area of ​​2,158 km2 and a population of about one million people. It is home to the largest pyramids ever discovered in Central America.

Using laser-assisted aerial mapping (LIDAR) technology, the team was able to create a 3D map of the Mirador Basin area, free from the dense forest. Hidden beneath the canopy were canals, traps, pyramids, dikes, terraced fields, and a vast network of roads. This was the world’s first highway system and was primarily used to transport goods.

In addition, the research team determined that the complex animal traps here were created by residents of El Mirador city. It proves that meat production in Basin Mirador had reached an industrial scale.

The discovery of the ancient road network will provide scientists with more research sites, which could help shed light on the decline of the Maya civilization in the Mirador Basin around 150 AD.

According to VNE