Nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan city with ‘remarkable’ architecture unearthed in Guatemala

Archaeologists in Guatemala have discovered the ruins of a 3,000-year-old Maya city featuring “remarkable” architecture, including pyramids and monuments, that shed more light on the ancient civilisation.

The ancient city named “Los Abuelos” – Spanish for “The Grandparents” – once stood about 21km from the archaeological site of Uaxactun in Guatemala’s northern Peten department, the culture ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The city “presents remarkable architectural planning”, and it was likely “one of the most ancient and important ceremonial centres” of the Maya civilisation.

Monuments found at the site have been dated to the Middle Preclassic period of 800-500BC and appear to be “sculpted with unique iconography”.

Some figures unearthed from the ruins, and dated to 500-300 BC, “could be linked to ancient ritual practices of ancestor worship”, according to the ministry.

Researchers said a pair of nearby archaeological sites uncovered during the latest excavations also stood out for their significance. While the Petnal site is home to a 33m-high pyramid adorned with pre-classical Maya murals, Cambrayal features a unique canal system and evidence of advanced hydraulic infrastructure.

“Archaeological investigations have included the active participation of Guatemalan and international professionals, with the support of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia,” the ministry said. “This joint effort has allowed significant advancements in the exploration, conservation, and dissemination of the Mayan legacy.”

The three sites – Los Abuelos, Petnal and Cambrayal – were excavated as part of Guatemala’s ongoing Uaxactún Regional Archaeological Project.

“These sites form a previously unknown urban triangle,” the ministry was quoted as saying by AFP. “These findings allow us to rethink the understanding of the ceremonial and socio-political organisation of pre-Hispanic Peten.”

The latest discovery follows the unearthing in April of a 1,000-year-old altar painted with a mural in red, yellow, and blue – colours associated with Mexico’s ancient Teotihuacan culture.

The mural was confirmed to depict the Goddess of the Storm adorned with a feathered headdress – a distinctive feature in Mesoamerican iconography.

The discovery offered the first piece of evidence in Guatemala of possible interaction between the Maya and Teotihuacan cultures.

The altar was believed to have been used by individuals with strong ties to Teotihuacan, who, along with introducing their funerary and architectural traditions, expressed their own cultural identity and beliefs in the region.