An ancient Mayan city dating from between 600 and 900 AD has been discovered by a group of archaeologists near Mérida, in the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico).

Xiol, named after it, appears to be a city in the Puuc Maya architectural style, making it a rare find for the Mérida region,

Reuters

reports .

Among the discoveries of archaeologists during the excavations, we find palaces, pyramids, squares, dwellings, or even a cemetery where children and adults were buried with tools but also offerings, in particular.

Remains of various marine animals have also been found, indicating that the inhabitants fed on fishing carried out on the nearby coastline.

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Un grupo de arqueólogos ha descubierto las ruinas de un antigua ciudad Maya replete de palacios, pirámides y plazas.

El sitio, llamado Xiol y ubicado cerca de la ciudad Mérida, tiene rasgos del estilo arquitectónico maya Puuc.

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Preserved remains

In total, nearly 4,000 people could have lived in this area at the same time.

“There were people of different social classes…priests, scribes, who lived in these large palaces, and there were also common people who lived in small buildings,” said archaeologist Carlos Peraza.

The latter has been leading the excavations in the city since 2018, originally launched on the occasion of the construction of a future industrial park there.

Following this discovery, the industrial zone project was maintained, but the remains should be preserved by local institutions.

“Over time, urban development (in the region) has increased and many archaeological remains have been destroyed… but even we archaeologists are surprised, as we did not expect to find such a well-preserved site,” concluded Carlos Peraza.

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