The search for the tombs of the Mayan Snake Kings of the pre-classic period in El Mirador began over thirty years ago. Around the year 150, the Snake Kings (and the Maya) collapsed. If you venture beyond Flores, the last town to the North, you’ll have to take a helicopter and then hike through the jungle to be able to reach El Mirador. The city’s area has a greater footprint than Los Angeles, yet, viewed by air, you will see nothing but a vast sea of green.
What is less obvious is that the “hills” in this lush landscape are actually Mayan pyramids. Once paved with bright lyme-plaster, with beautiful frescos carved all over (once colorful, now mostly white), the jungle is a maze of ruins. Artwork suggests that Jaguar Paw Temple is the resting place of the 13th Snake King, Fiery Jaguar Paw.
More than 100 miles of causeways have been mapped and the largest pyramid in Mesoamerica, La Danta, is at Mirador. It is estimated that it took over 30 years of man power to build the stonework found here without the aid of modern invention. At 72 meters tall and 443 meters wide, it is thought this may be the largest pyramid on Earth.
It is estimated that the Maya Biosphere Reserve has over 50 Mayan cities within it.
However, the Mayan ruins leave us with very potent knowledge and information– humans today are still making the same mistake over resources and opulence as the Maya made in El Mirador. The Maya, in covering everything in lyme plaster, paved over the jungle. They cut down trees and did not respect the natural order of things. Because of deforestation, their water resources were reduced, and as population grew without respect for the Earth, resources grew more and more thin. Now, the jungle has taken back these ancient cities and over the course of the past two thousand (or so) years, reclaimed the land with no people still ravaging it.
The superstitious amongst researchers need only look to a 1983 plane crash at El Mirador to realize just how dangerous the jungle really is– and how angry she might be with humans. While there were no deaths, as soon as the pilot and passengers (explorers who were excavating at El Mirador (at least one of which still excavates there to this day)) were clear of the wreckage, the plane exploded. During filming at El Mirador, several explorers have been met with steep warnings and actual danger over the years, including flash flooding and poisonous snakes.
More Info:
Smithsonian Magazine
Express UK
Archaeological Conservancy
Ancient Origins
