Archaeologists have found in southern Mexico over a thousand years old Mayan boat, which has survived in very good condition. Reuters.
Diving archaeologists found a canoe in a karstic formation resembling a freshwater well (cenote) while excavating along a planned railway track near the ruins of the former Mayan city of Chichen Itza. The area includes a huge number of these Menito-like craters, and the Mayans revered these natural formations as sacred places.
The unearthed wooden canopy was 1.6 meters long, 80 centimeters wide and 40 centimeters high, and is estimated to have been made sometime between 830 and 950 AD, that is, at the end of the Mayan Golden Age. Experts at the Sorbonne University in Paris helped Mexican authorities determine the age of the boat, and researchers also made a 3D model of the boat to reproduce it to facilitate the study.
It is believed that the boat could have been used for water measurements or for some kind of ritual. This find is unparalleled of its kind, as it is the first canoe to be found completely and in good condition in the area of the Yucatan Peninsula formerly inhabited by the Mayans.
The Mayan railway, which was found during preparation, will play an important role in promoting tourism in Mexico as planned. The railway, due to be delivered by 2024, will have a length of 1,500 km, a large part of which will pass through the Yucatan Peninsula, and three million tourists are expected to do so each year.
