New Mayan Ruins Found In A Lake In Guatemala

When Roberto Samayoa, a businessman and recreational diver who grew up near the lake where his grandmother told him legends of a sunken church, found underwater archeological ruins twelve years ago, no one believed him. Samayoa dived for years at the lake and often found pieces of pottery from the Mayan pre-classic period. Then in 1996 he stumbled upon the site, parts of ceremonial stones and buildings were clearly visible...

He named the site Samabaj, after himself, but it is only recently that professional archeologists have taken any interest in the site. In the past year they have been mapping the 4,300-square-foot (400-square-meter) area with sonar technology and excavating structures on a raised part of the lake bed.

It is believed that the area, which is now fifty feet below the surface of the lake, was once an island. The lake rose and drowned the area around 250 A.D., which was before the height of the Mayan empire. Ceramics found there suggest that the inhabitants of the island left in a hurry, researchers believe that he island was sunk because of a catastrophic event, such as a volcanic eruption or landslide.

"We have found six ceremonial monuments and four altars and without doubt there are more, which means this was an extremely important place from a spiritual point of view," lead archaeologist Sonia Medrano told Reuters in an interview.

As archeologists want to protect the site from looters, it's location is currently being kept a secret.

Source: Reuters