A team of scientists discovered the largest ceremonial monument in Mesoamerica in the Mexican state of Tabasco: Aguada Fénix, an enormous cosmogram representing the order of the universe according to the Mayan worldview.
The monument measures 1.5 kilometers long and almost half a kilometer wide, is between 1 and 1.5 meters high, and dates back to 1000 BC, according to an article published in the journal Science Advances.
Scientists found the first clues about Aguada Fénix in 2017 using LiDAR, a system that uses lasers from an aircraft flying over the area to scan the jungle and forest and create 3D maps of human-made structures, even those hidden beneath vegetation.
The latest excavation provided the clearest evidence yet that Aguada Fénix was a cosmogram. Archaeologists discovered a cross-shaped pit containing numerous ceremonial artifacts, a find that sheds light on early Mayan rituals.
This discovery challenges the idea that Mesoamerican cultures grew gradually until they built large settlements like Tikal in Guatemala or Teotihuacan in Mexico. Aguada Fénix predates the splendor of these cities by almost a thousand years and surpasses the monuments known until now in size.
What they found at Aguada Fénix, the imposing Mayan monument:
Axes and jade carvings used as ornaments and offerings.
Colored mineral pigments arranged according to the cardinal directions, a pattern characteristic of the Mayan worldview: the association of the four cardinal directions with specific colors and the conception of the world as a sacred space ordered by cosmic cycles.
Elevated causeways, sunken passageways, canals, and a dam provided access to the complex, allowed visitors to explore it, and diverted water from a nearby lagoon. All these structures extended for about ten kilometers from the main area.
Furthermore, they noted that the central line of the monument aligns with the sunrise on October 17 and February 24, a 130-day interval that likely represents half of the 260-day cycle of the Mesoamerican ritual calendar.
This alignment suggests that the structure was conceived in relation to the sun’s movement, reflecting in its design the celestial cycles that governed life, agriculture, and rituals.
Although some major Maya centers, such as Tikal in Guatemala, were ruled by powerful kings, researchers found no evidence that Aguada Fénix was built under the same model.
This suggests that it may have been constructed through a collective and voluntary effort. Rather than the project of a single ruler, it would have been a communal undertaking with strong spiritual and symbolic significance, perhaps guided by people with astronomical and calendrical knowledge, but without coercive power.
Researchers argue that the settlement did have leaders, but they were intellectuals who made astronomical observations and directed the design and planning of the site.
Takeshi Inomata, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona, commented: “People have this idea that in the past there were pyramids or large constructions thanks to the existence of powerful kings, but historical data indicates that great inequality and social hierarchy are not necessary to achieve important things.”
Source: clarin
