Reading: 3,000-year-old Mayan site may be a map of the universe

3,000-year-old Mayan site may be a map of the universe

Last updated: 2025/11/13 at 11:46 AM

News Room Published 13 November 2025

Humans have long been fascinated with the universe around us — as proven by an archaeological site recently unearthed. The 3,000-year-old Mayan site is thought to be a giant, city-size map showing the ‘order of the universe,’ researchers say. It’s the largest monumental construction known today in the Maya area in the state of Tabasco, near Mexico’s southeastern border. (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

3,000 year old Mayan site may be a map of the universe Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology — The monument was found at a site called Aguada Fénix, and is nearly a mile long and a quarter-mile wide, ranging from 30 to 50 feet high, and dates to 1,000 BC. It was found in the summer of 2020, and in the five years since the researchers have found nearly 500 similar, smaller sites around the landscape in southeastern Mexico. (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

3,000 year old Mayan site may be a map of the universe Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology — The researchers, led by professors of anthropology Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan at the University of Arizona, say that they have found the latest and clearest evidence that Aguada Fénix was a cosmogram. That means it’s a model that represents the order of the universe, seen at other Maya sites, and could make it among the most significant ceremonial sites for the Maya area. (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

3,000 year old Mayan site may be a map of the universe Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology — The team found a cross-shaped pit, called a cruciform, that held ceremonial artefacts, which provide information on early Maya rituals. In their new paper, the researchers argue against the long held understanding that Mesoamerican cultures grew gradually, building increasingly larger settlements, such as Tikal in Guatemala and Teotihuacan in central Mexico. The researchers say that Aguada Fénix predates the peak of those cities by nearly a thousand years. (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

Xanti S. Ceballos Pesina, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Anthropology and a co-author on the study, helped excavate a smaller complex within Aguada F?nix. Ceballos, who grew up in Mexico, has visited numerous Maya sites as an archaeologist. Courtesy of Xanti S. Ceballos Pesina — Professor Inomata said: ‘What we are finding is that there was a “big bang” of construction at the beginning of 1,000 BC, which really nobody knew about. Huge planning and construction really happened at the very beginning.’ The team used LiDAR imaging, which uses lasers from an airplane flown overhead, to scan through jungle and forest to create 3D maps of human-made structures. (Picture: Xanti S. Ceballos Pesina)

They found that the monument’s centerline aligns with the rising sun on October 17 and February 24 – a 130-day span that probably represents half of the 260-day cycle of the Mesoamerican ritual calendar, the researchers say. They also looked at dating the cruciform pit and the construction layers above it, as well as analysing shards of ceramic material that helped date the cruciform. (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

They found ornaments carved from jade that they said represented a crocodile, a bird, and what they believe is a woman giving birth. At the bottom of the pit was a smaller cruciform, where they found mineral pigments, which are small piles of blue, green and yellowish soil, arranged to correspond to cardinal directions. (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

Prof Inomata said: ‘We’ve known that there are specific colors associated with specific directions, and that’s important for all Mesoamerican people, even the Native American people in North America. But we never had actual pigment placed in this way. This is the first case that we’ve found those pigments associated with each specific direction. So that was very exciting.’ (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

The study also revealed a network of raised causeways and sunken corridors that Aguada Fénix’s builders used to walk to and through the site, the researchers say. They also found canals and a dam to divert water from a nearby laguna. Prof Inomata said: ‘These leaders didn’t have power to force other people. Most came probably willingly, because this idea of building a cosmogram was really important to them, and so they worked together.’ (Picture: Takeshi Inomata/School of Anthropology)

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