{"id":5287,"date":"2026-09-11T03:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/?p=5287"},"modified":"2026-09-11T04:17:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T04:17:51","slug":"another-maya-city-discovered-by-means-of-lidar-technology-its-called-minanbe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/11\/another-maya-city-discovered-by-means-of-lidar-technology-its-called-minanbe\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Maya City Discovered by Means of LiDAR Technology. It’s called Minanbe."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It uses laser pulses fired from aircraft that bounce off the ground and back to the aircraft, revealing the relief of the ground area being studied. Previous Mexico News Report articles have reported how LiDAR was used in the discovery<\/a> of a lost Maya city in Campeche state (Valeriana) and in the discovery<\/a> that the Zapotec fortress of Guiengola was much larger than previously thought. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another archaeological discovery made with LiDAR is the Mayan city of Minanb\u00e9, like Valeriana, also in the state of Campeche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
State of Campeche in red. Source: TUBS<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Minanb\u00e9, which had been hidden for a millennium, is located in the jungle in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. Source: (WT-en) Lahoriali<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As reported in Smithsonian Magazine<\/a>, “No old logging paths lead to this site\u2014unlike others in the jungle\u2014says excavation leader\u00a0Ivan \u0160prajc<\/a>, an archaeologist who specializes in finding ancient Maya sites, in a translated\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0from Mexico\u2019s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). It was very difficult to access, he says. Researchers named the place ‘Minanb\u00e9,’ a combination of Yucatec Mayan words meaning, roughly, ‘there is no road’.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Dr. Ivan \u0160prajc. Source: Ljuba brank<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In case you were wondering, Ivan \u0160prajc\u00a0is from Slovenia, the same country U.S. First Lady Melania Trump is from.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

Slovenia in red. Source: freeworldmaps.net<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Minanb\u00e9 was explored after a LiDar scan in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
LiDAR scan of Minanb\u00e9. Source: INAH<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From the Smithsonian Magazine<\/a>: “After examining an aerial<\/a> lidar<\/a> scan of Minanb\u00e9\u2019s roughly 40 acres, archaeologists Atasta Flores Esquivel, Israel Chato L\u00f3pez, Quint\u00edn Hern\u00e1ndez G\u00f3mez and Vitan Vujanovi\u0107 explored it from the ground. They hacked through three miles of jungle with machetes to get there. What they found was a city composed of urban plazas surrounded by palaces, religious buildings and terraces flanked by water channels.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Dr. \u0160prajc, \u201cTo reach the site, we had to clear a trail with machetes and chainsaws before walking another 6km <\/strong>[kilometers] through the jungle.” <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Minanb\u00e9.<\/strong> Source: INAH<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back to the Smithsonian Magazine<\/a>: “Minanb\u00e9\u2019s tallest building was a temple pyramid standing more than 40 feet tall\u2014three or four stories<\/a>. Vujanovi\u0107 says in the statement that it was built in the R\u00edo Bec<\/a> style: a type of Maya architecture characterized by fine masonry and moldings, popular during the Late Classic period.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The temple boasts a stela, a freestanding monument of carved stone, which Vujanovi\u0107 says is the first he\u2019s found with uneroded symbols. In all, the researchers found 14 stelae and altars at the site, suggesting it was an important city during the Late Classic period, per the statement.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

A Minanbe\u0301 stele. Source: Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Digital image of Minanb\u00e9 <\/strong>stele. Source: INAH<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“The researchers took hundreds of photos of the altars and stelae, then sent them to epigraphist<\/a> Octavio Esparza Olgu\u00edn<\/a> for examination. Olgu\u00edn says in the statement that one of the stelae depicts a figure decapitating another with a knife or ax, and it\u2019s carved with the date 849 C.E. He says this probably means all the carved monuments were made around that time\u2014near the collapse<\/a> of the Maya civilization in the Lowlands.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Researchers found round and rectangular altars. One boasts a carving of a ruler wearing a feathered headdress, a decorated chest, bracelets and necklaces. An engraved Maya calendrical element suggests the altar was carved in the late seventh century, making it the oldest of Minanb\u00e9\u2019s monuments.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder when this place will be open to tourists? It will probably be awhile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It uses laser pulses fired from aircraft that bounce off the ground and back to the aircraft, revealing the relief of the ground area being studied. Previous Mexico News Report articles have reported … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[1104,327,1080,601,342,1102,1101,331],"class_list":["post-5287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archaeology","tag-calakmul-biosphere-reserve","tag-campeche-state","tag-dr-ivan-sprajc","tag-inah","tag-lidar","tag-minanbe","tag-slovenia","tag-the-maya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5287"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5370,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5287\/revisions\/5370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}