With the help of drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old canal in Belize that was once used by ancient Mayan ancestors to catch freshwater fish.
Study co-author Eleanor Harrison Buck of the University of New Hampshire said of the pre-Christopher Columbus discovery: “Aerial photography was critical to identifying this very distinctive zigzag-straight canal pattern. It was,” he said.
Built around 2000 BC, the fishing canal continued to be used by Mayan descendants until around 200 AD.
Scientists study 'very unusual' frozen remains of 35,000-year-old saber-toothed child
Altar Q depicting the 16 kings of the city's dynastic succession can be seen at the Copan Ruins in Honduras. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abdo, File)
“This is the oldest large-scale ancient fish-capturing facility recorded in ancient Mesoamerica,” the study authors wrote in Science Advances, adding, “Such landscape-scale intensification occurred between 2200 and 2200 years. “This could be a response to long-term climate changes recorded up to 2017.” 1900 BC. ”
Study co-author Marika Brouwer-Berg of the University of Vermont said the canal may have had “barbed spearheads” found nearby that would have been used to impale fish. It is said to be expensive.
Researchers plan to excavate the deposits in 2019 and sequence them to identify evidence of large-scale fish-trapping facilities in Belize that pre-Columbian times. (Belize River East Archeology Project via AP)
The researchers believe the spearhead was tied to a pole along the canal.
Archaeologists discover hoard of ancient human bones part of 'complex funerary system'
“It's very interesting to see such a large-scale modification of the landscape at such an early stage,” Clare Evert, an archaeologist at the University of Pittsburgh, told The Associated Press of the semi-nomadic people who built the canal. This shows that they were building something.” Ebert was not involved in the study.
Stella M and hieroglyphic staircase seen within the Copan Ruins in Copan, Honduras. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abdo, File)
Ebert added that the Maya civilization is better studied by archaeologists because of its many ruins, such as Chichen Itza.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Maya also developed a complex system of writing, mathematics, and astronomy.
