Archaeologists have discovered a wooden Mayan canoe in southern Mexico, believed to be over 1.000 years old.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himArchaeologists have discovered a wooden Mayan canoe in southern Mexico, believed to be over 1.000 years old
It is almost completely intact, the pre-Hispanic canoe of over 1 meter found almost submerged in a pool of fresh water (cenote) near the ruins of the Mayan city of Chichen Itza. According to the Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (Inah), it may have been used to extract water or deposit ritual offerings.
The rare find occurred during construction work on a new tourist railway known as the Maya Train, a multi-billion dollar mega-project led by the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which will cross five states in southern Mexico.
According to a note from Inah, ceramics, a ritual knife and murals of hands on a rocky wall in the pool would also have come to light (the cenote is the name given in Central America and southern Mexico to a type cave with the presence of fresh water).
? #PressINAH | Archaeologists locate a pre-Hispanic canoe in a cenote during the Mayan Train projectIn the framework of…
Posted by National Institute of Anthropology and History on Friday, October 29,
Experts from the Sorbonne University in Paris helped pinpoint the exact age and type of canoe, also making a 3D model to allow replicas to be made and to facilitate further study.
The Maya civilization flourished before Spain conquered the region. In their day, the Maya ruled vast tracts of territory in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras.
The boat has been provisionally dated between 830-950 AD, towards the end of the golden age of the Maya civilization. Around this time, the Mayan civilization suffered a severe political collapse, marked by the abandonment of the cities scattered throughout present-day Central America, leaving the ruins of towering pyramids and other stone buildings.
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Font: Inah / BBC
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