Scientists called Campeche an archaeological “blank spot” in the Maya Lowlands, an area spanning what is now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and southeastern Mexico, and which the Maya inhabited from about 1000 BC to AD 1500. Like other large capital cities from Maya sites, Valeriana had a reservoir, a ball court, temple pyramids and a broad road connecting enclosed plazas. In total, the researchers identified 6,764 structures in Valeriana and in other rural and urban settlements of varying sizes. In the north, Maya sites such as Chichén Itzá are highly visible. Morales-Aguilar’s work on Maya settlements in Guatemala aligns closely with the new findings, he told CNN in an email.

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Persons: Valeriana, “, you’re, ”, Luke Auld, Thomas, ” Auld, Marcello Canuto, ” Canuto, Carlos Morales, Aguilar, Morales, ” Morales, Tomás Gallareta Cervera, ” Gallareta Cervera, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Nature Conservancy, Tulane University, University of Texas, Kenyon College, “, Scientific Locations: Mexican, Campeche, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Valeriana, Thomas Campeche, Tulane’s, Austin, Ohio