Ancient Maya Urban Triangle Discovered in Guatemala

Archaeologists have discovered Los Abuelos, a nearly 3,000-year-old Maya city in Guatemala's northern Petén region, marking it as one of the oldest and most important ceremonial centers of the Maya civilization. The site spans about 16 square kilometers and features pyramids, monuments with unique iconography, a canal system, and evidence of advanced urban planning from the Middle Preclassic period (800–500 BCE). Los Abuelos is named for two human-like sculptures representing an ancestral couple, linked to early ancestor worship rituals. The discovery also revealed that Los Abuelos, Petnal (with a 33-meter-high pyramid decorated with murals), and Cambrayal (noted for its advanced hydraulic infrastructure) form a previously unknown urban triangle. These findings, made by Guatemalan and Slovak archaeologists, shed new light on early Maya ceremonial, social, and political organization. Experts say the discoveries are reshaping the understanding of the Maya civilization’s origins and complexity.