Oldest Known Maya Monument Could Be a Map of The Universe

A monumental analyzable built by the Maya astir 3,000 years agone was modeled connected a representation of the cosmos, caller fieldwork has revealed.

A elaborate survey of the Aguada Fénix site reveals that not lone was the monument importantly larger than archetypal surveys suggested – laid retired successful the signifier of a transverse with axes measuring 9 and 7.5 kilometers (5.6 and 4.7 miles) – but it was besides designed arsenic a cosmogram, an architecture symbolizing the cosmos.

What's adjacent much singular astir the operation is that the tract contains nary of the trappings of societal inequality, specified arsenic elite residences oregon sculptures of rulers.

This powerfully implies that egalitarian cultures were susceptible of monumental gathering works without the exertion of coercive force done a stratified societal hierarchy ruled by a king.

Related: 'Bad Omen': Ancient Pyramid successful Mexico Collapses Into Pile of Rubble

Found astatine Aguada Fénix, this greenstone entity apt depicts a crocodile. (Inomata et al., Sci. Adv., 2025)

The find of Aguada Fénix by mode of LIDAR surveys, successful the Mexican authorities of Tabasco adjacent the Gulf of Mexico, was fascinating for a fig of reasons.

The archetypal was its size; it was the largest Maya tract ever found, adjacent going by the much humble archetypal estimation of 1.4 kilometers on its longest axis. And it wasn't hidden successful the forest, arsenic so galore lost Mesoamerican, Central American, and South American structures are, but nether a populated area. Plus, determination was the aforementioned deficiency of grounds for societal hierarchy.

Some of the jade offerings recovered astatine the site. (Takeshi Inomata)

Now, a squad of archaeologists led by Takeshi Inomata of the University of Arizona has conducted further LIDAR operations, fieldwork, and excavations. They discovered that Aguada Fénix is acold much extended and analyzable – not conscionable successful its carnal scope, but besides successful what it tin uncover astir the radical who built it betwixt 1050 and 700 BCE.

"Along with the appeals of corporate ceremonies, feasting, and the speech of goods, the operation of a cosmogram, materializing the bid of the Universe, apt provided a rationale for a ample fig of radical to enactment without coercive force," the researchers write successful their paper.

"The improvement of Aguada Fénix exemplifies the capabilities of quality enactment without salient inequality, but it besides hints astatine the challenges that earlier builders faced."

The layout of Aguada Fénix, with cardinal and occidental plateaus highlighted successful green. (Inomata et al., Sci. Adv., 2025)

The layout of the monument, the researchers found, is simply a benignant of nested cross, with agelong axes starring to the monument's hub. That hub, located connected an artificial plateau, contains 2 nested cross-shaped pits astatine its center.

The agelong axes each consisted of a corridor and a brace of causeways, with the corridor dug into the crushed and the causeways built up supra crushed connected either broadside of it. The longest corridor, extending towards the northwest, measures 6.3 kilometers. The researchers speculate that these whitethorn person been utilized for ritual processions successful and retired of the ceremonial halfway of the monument.

Around the occidental axis, wherever the operation crosses Laguna Naranjito, the builders began enactment connected a system of canals that whitethorn person reflected the ritual value of water. These canals were near unfinished, suggesting that the builders ran into limitations, some successful their skills and their quality to signifier the construction.

The cache containing the pigment deposits. (Takeshi Inomata)

It's the ceremonial halfway of Aguada Fénix connected the Main Plateau that yielded immoderate of the astir fascinating treasures of the dig. Right astatine the halfway of the nested transverse pits, the archaeologists recovered deposits of pigment successful a peculiar cache, placed successful a directional order. Blue azurite pigment was placed astatine the north; greenish malachite to the east; and yellowish ochre containing goethite to the south.

This represents the earliest known illustration of Mesoamerican directional colour symbolism, a motif that would aboriginal look successful Maya cosmograms, associating the cardinal directions of the satellite with the elements encoded successful the colors.

"We've known that determination are circumstantial colors associated with circumstantial directions, and that's important for each Mesoamerican people, adjacent the Native American radical successful North America," says Inomata.

"But we ne'er had existent pigment placed successful this way. This is the archetypal lawsuit that we've recovered those pigments associated with each circumstantial direction. So that was precise exciting."

A jade ornament perchance representing childbirth. (Takeshi Inomata)

Within these pits, the researchers besides recovered offerings of seashells and carved jade and greenstone – crocodiles, birds, and adjacent a pistillate giving birth, each arranged successful the aforesaid cross-shape. This, too, seems accordant with the cosmogram layout, with the shells placed connected the sides denoting water.

The findings, the researchers say, connection important insights into some the limitations and possibilities of quality organization. On the 1 hand, operation remained unfinished, adjacent though Aguada Fénix was utilized for perchance hundreds of years.

On the other, the sheer standard of the monument is conscionable mind-blowingly impressive, requiring an estimated 10.8 cardinal person-days to physique the Main Plateau alone, and an further 255,000 person-days for the canals and dam.

"The operation of a cosmogram representing the bid of the Universe and clip apt motivated galore radical to enactment successful gathering activities without being coerced," the researchers write.

Inomata elaborates: "People person this thought that definite things happened successful the past – that determination were kings, and kings built the pyramids, and truthful successful modern times, you request almighty radical to execute large things," helium says.

"But erstwhile you spot the existent information from the past, it was not similar that. So, we don't request truly large societal inequality to execute important things."

The insubstantial has been published successful Science Advances.