The Great Mayan Civilisations left its traces in the ancient ruins that can be found in Mexico in the form of quick peek into the lives of the acclaimed civilisation in the history of mankind. Guatemala and Mexico share common cultural history from the Mayan civilisation that existed before colonialism. The former is home to some of the most impressive ancient architecture of Mayan ruins in Central America.
One day, as Matthew Cardona was visiting his grandfather’s childhood house in Guatemala, he found boxes of ancient Mayan artefacts that were recently unearthed. Cardona wanted to investigate where they came from and was confident that it was from the surrounding valley. His inquisitive nature led him to research vigorously about the landscape which he believed to have obscured the Mayan ruins.
Cardona, a student of Geospatial Services at Northeastern University, showed the findings to his professor Cordula Robinson who, in turn, created a team consisting of two other people excluding Cardona, to investigate the Mayan archaeology. The group searched around for ancient Mayan sites that could be relevant to the findings. They did not have to look around much for the signs as they were hidden in plain sight- the Sierra Madre Mountains. The group believed that under the layers of dirt and vegetation, there lay the remains of the Mayan pyramids.
They took the help of various modern technologies, like satellite images, which presented an accurate picture of the surroundings and captured more than the human eye could. Cardona says, “Using different satellite images, you can go back a couple of years and see if something persists, and see how it looks through different times of the year, it’s like looking back in time.” To frame concrete evidence, the group studied the soil for clay or iron remains that may suggest that the civilisation was once there. They did not even spare the grasslands to look for traces.
In conclusion, they found elaborate traces of the culture, like pyramids, causeways, rectangular courts, etc. The area stretched for 14 miles east to west and 8 miles north to south and was one spectacular discovery. Cardona expressed his desire to protect these ancient marvels and establish these sites so that they are better known in the future.
Subarna Basu