Remarkable 3,000-year-old Mayan city named The Grandparents unearthed in Guatemala

It’s a blast from the long-ago past.Archaeologists unearthed a nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan city in Guatemala — complete with pyramids and mysterious monuments — that reveals new traces of the ancient civilization. The ancient metropolis known as Los Abuelos — Spanish for “The Grandparents” — dates back to about 800 to 500 BC and is believed to be one of the earliest and most significant ceremonial centers of the Maya civilization in Guatemala’s dense Petén region, the country’s culture ministry announced.Officials said the roughly six-square-mile historic area — named after two human-like rock figures believed to represent an ancestral couple — features “remarkable architectural planning,” including pyramids, sacred sanctuaries and monuments adorned with unique regional iconography.Some unearthed relics from 500-300 BC may be tied to ancient ritual practices and ancestor worship.“The discovery of the city called Los Abuelos stands out for its ancient characteristics and its exceptional features of historical value, which contribute significantly to the understanding of the Mayan civilization, the Central American ministry said.The Mayan civilization emerged around 2000 BC and reached its peak between 400 and 900 AD, spanning present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala and parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.The groundbreaking discovery was made by Guatemalan and Slovak archaeologists and other international professionals in a largely uncharted section of Uaxactun Park, officials said.

Scientists also discovered a 108-foot pyramid, which has two preserved rooms at its peak decorated with murals depicting symbolic scenes and “unique” water canals inside a palace at two nearby dig sites.“These set of three sites forms a previously unknown urban triangle,” the ministry said.“These findings allow us to rethink the understanding of the ceremonial and sociopolitical organization of pre-Hispanic Petén.” ...