Scientists at Brown University have discovered ancient Mayan settlements lost in the jungle 
Scientists at Brown University in the United States have shown that before 900 AD there were Mayan kingdoms that adopted sustainable agricultural practices to ensure their food security. New research, published in the journal Remote Sensing, showed that strategic thinking could help them cope with the droughts that caused the decline of ancient civilization.
Archaeologists scanned 331 square kilometers of the upper Usumacinta basin in Mexico and Guatemala using a high-resolution aerialidar. In this territory, there were three Mayan kingdoms: Piedras Negras, La Mar and Sak-Tsi. Digital elevation models showed traces of ancient settlements and associated irrigation structures, and cluster analysis made it possible to distinguish urban, suburban and rural areas lost in the jungles of Central America.
It turned out that between 350 and 900 AD there were Mayan kingdoms, which were characterized by a low population density. At the same time, agricultural technologies were sufficiently developed to not only meet the basic living needs of the population, but also to provide surplus food. According to scientists, this indicates the strategic thinking of indigenous Mesoamericans who could stock up on food and thus fight lean years.
The Mayan farming methods, whose main crop was corn, included construction terraces, dams and fields with canals.
All three kingdoms were ruled by ajav – a representative of the political nobility. But Piedras Negras, the largest kingdom, was headed by the kuul ajav or “holy lord”, a special honorary title that the lords of La Mara and Sak-Tsi did not claim. The last two kingdoms are also not entirely equal, as La Mar was more populous than Sak-Tsi, which, in turn, had more political autonomy.