Archaeologists Discovered a Giant Lost City in Mexico

Bright Side

Archaeologists just made a jaw-dropping discovery — a massive lost city in Mexico that’s been hidden for over 600 years! We're talking ancient roads, temples, and buildings buried under the jungle, completely forgotten by time. This place was once home to thousands of people, and now it's finally coming back into the spotlight. Using high-tech gear like laser scanning from the sky, researchers revealed the city's full layout without even digging. It’s like something straight out of an adventure movie, but it’s all real. History just got way cooler, and we’re only starting to uncover the secrets this city has been keeping for centuries.  Credit: CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0: Guiengola1: By HJPD, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11658298 CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/: Derinkuyu Underground City: By Nevit Dilmen, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31074150 CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0: Guiengola map: By Drakkar86, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159451178 Derinkuyu staircase: By TobyJ, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52430175 Derinkuyu door: By TobyJ, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52430174 Derinkuyu chamber: By TobyJ, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52430176 Derinkuyu large room: By Wmmorrow, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125594484 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0: City of the Jaguar: By Fisher C, Fernández-Diaz J, Cohen A, Neil Cruz O, Gonzáles A, Leisz S, Pezzutti F, Shrestha R, Carter W, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159890, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Identifying-Ancient-Settlement-Patterns-through[…]-in-the-Mosquitia-Region-of-Honduras-pone.0159890.s001.ogv Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Scientists found an entire city of Guyangola that was hidden beneath the dense jungles

00:05of Mexico for 600 years.

00:08It covers 360 hectares, had over 1,000 buildings, 2.5 miles of defensive walls, a network of

00:15internal roads, and a well-planned urban layout with temples and ball courts, and separate

00:20neighborhoods for the elites and commoners.

00:23For centuries, people believed there was just an abandoned fortress there, based on stories

00:28passed on from generation to generation.

00:31Until recently, there was no way to see how truly huge it was without spending years on

00:36the ground.

00:37But thanks to the new technology, a remote sensing tool called LiDAR, they got a 3D model of the

00:43area in just two hours from a plane.

00:47Guyangola was built between the years 1350 and 1521.

00:51It was a crucially important place for the Zabatek people, a group that had lived in the

00:56area since around 700 BCE.

00:59In Guyangola, families lived together in homes with big patios in the middle, surrounded by

01:04rooms.

01:05When families got bigger, they built more rooms and made their homes larger.

01:09The study found that both the leaders and regular people worked together to make the

01:13city better.

01:15Because Guyangola was surrounded by mountains, they used this land wisely and built their

01:20houses in a way that fit the slopes and let rainwater flow naturally.

01:23This helped keep their homes safe and strong.

01:27They were built so well that many of these buildings are still standing, even after hundreds

01:31of years.

01:33There are two pyramids in the center of the city.

01:36They may have been used as temples where the priests celebrated rites and ceremonies to

01:40their deities.

01:42The priests brought offerings to the altars, and the people assembled at the two squares

01:46that are now sunken.

01:48In addition, there is also a palace with 64 rooms, some of them with circular columns on

01:53several sloped terraces.

01:55There are patios with many stairways all connected to each other.

01:59The sensing tool also found a round-shaped lookout point on a natural rock, where the Zabatek people

02:05could see their foes approaching from a distance.

02:09Researchers also noticed two circular structures that could have been used to watch the stars and

02:14measure time.

02:15They also found some tombs, so there was most definitely a city cemetery.

02:21By the end of the 1400s, the Zabatek people controlled a large territory on the Pacific coast,

02:26and had successfully defended their land from the Aztecs, who were trying to take over more

02:31territory.

02:32They did the almost impossible, and survived a seven-month-long siege at Guyangola.

02:38When they won this conflict, and kept control of the southern part of Mesoamerica, the Zabateks

02:43didn't need to live in Guyangola anymore.

02:46Staying in the mountains had its pros, but they needed fresh water and good farmland to

02:50grow food.

02:52The small city of Tehuantepec, just 12 miles away, had these conditions, so they moved

02:57there just before the Spanish arrived in 1521.

03:01Over time, Zatapak traditions started to fade, but their culture didn't disappear completely,

03:07and more than 300,000 Zabatek people still live in Oaxaca state in Mexico.

03:12They speak their own languages and keep their traditions alive.

03:17Creating the 3D model of the lost city is just the beginning of the research.

03:22Archaeologists hope that future studies of Guyangola will help us learn more about how

03:26the Zabateks were organized, how they ruled their cities, and how they interacted with the

03:31Spanish when they arrived.

03:33They plan to study all 1,100 buildings found in the LIDAR scan, and it will take a few years.

03:39Instead of digging up the ruins, they will use special technology to scan the land and

03:44learn more about the city without damaging it.

03:48This same tech helped scientists find another massive ancient city that lay hidden beneath

03:52the thick green canopy of the Amazon forest.

03:55A whole network of houses, plazas, roads, and canals was hiding in the shadow of a mighty volcano.

04:03For centuries, many scientists assumed that ancient Amazonian people lived in tiny huts,

04:08clearing patches of land to survive.

04:11But this city, built 2,500 years ago and inhabited for 1,000 years, proves the opposite.

04:17Now, scientists think tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people lived

04:22in complex urban societies.

04:24Scanning the area, found 6,000 rectangular platforms, each measuring around 66 by 33 feet,

04:31and standing 6 to 9 feet high.

04:34These structures were arranged in clusters around central plazas, with straight roads with perfect

04:39right angles and paths connecting them.

04:42One of the roads was 16 miles long.

04:45Building straight roads like this is far harder than just following the landscape.

04:49Some of these roads may have had deep spiritual or ceremonial significance.

04:54The volcano's rich soil helped the civilization thrive.

04:58But it may also have led to its downfall.

05:01Researchers also found signs of threats to the cities, such as ditches that blocked entrances

05:05to the settlements.

05:07Maybe some people living nearby were trying to get in.

05:10The next step for the researchers will be studying the adjoining 116 square miles to know

05:15more about this large, complex society that could be bigger than the well-known Mayan societies

05:21in Mexico and Central America.

05:24Meanwhile, in 1963, a man in Turkey discovered an ancient city while renovating his own house.

05:31He knocked down a wall in his basement and found a mysterious room.

05:35He kept digging and saw a tunnel.

05:38It led to the Derinkuyu Underground City.

05:40It's one of the deepest multi-level underground settlements in Cappadocia and in all of Turkey.

05:47The inhabitants lived on eight levels and had access to cellars, storage areas, chapels,

05:52a school, a study room, and other structures.

05:56All floors were connected by an extensive network of tunnels.

06:00The underground city was probably built as a shelter.

06:03The construction is hiding at 279 feet deep, and you can't see it from the outside.

06:09The complex was large enough to shelter about 20,000 people with their livestock and food

06:14supplies.

06:15There was also a 180-foot ventilation shaft.

06:19Archaeologists believe that Phrygians first built the levels.

06:22The Romans used and enhanced the structure later.

06:25The golden time of Derinkuyu was during the Byzantine era.

06:30The next lost and found city appeared only in a few inscriptions in ancient texts, so no

06:35one could be sure it really existed.

06:38Scientists searched the majority of the coast of Egypt until one archaeologist and his team

06:43detected a colossal face looking at them from under the water.

06:47The ancient city of Thonis Heracleion was discovered completely submerged, four miles off Alexandria's

06:54coast.

06:55In the ruins of the lost city, there were 64 ships, 700 anchors, and a treasure trove of gold coins.

07:04Scientists believe the 16-foot-tall statue and the temple remains are the most important

07:08findings discovered by the expedition.

07:11Back then, the city had ceremonies and celebrations that took place in the Temple of Amman.

07:17The ruins and artifacts were made from granite and diorite, so they were in good condition

07:22even after having been in contact with water for centuries.

07:26To give people a glimpse into what life was like 2,300 years ago in one of the most important

07:32trade ports of the world.

07:34The city had a network of canals, sort of like an ancient Egyptian Venice.

07:39The canals linked many separate harbors and anchorages.

07:42Towers, temples, houses, and other structures were also linked by bridges.

07:48Thonis Heracleion was the country's main port for international trade and the collection

07:53of taxes.

07:55No one really knows how the city ended up submerged, but archaeologists connect it with

07:59natural causes.

08:01At the end of the 2nd century BCE, most probably after a flood, it got covered with water.

08:08Then Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great, became more glorious than Heracleion.

08:15Before Alexandria's fame, Heracleion was the main port of entry to Egypt.

08:19So after the tragedy, many ships heading for Heracleion had to change their route and go

08:24to Alexandria.

08:27Heracleion lost its glory until its discovery in 2000.

08:31That's it for today!

08:32So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:36friends!

08:37Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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