Sunday, August 30, 2015

5 Lost Cities—Found


Archeologists have recently discovered—actually, rediscovered—a lost Mayan city in the Mexican jungle.  Add that to four other lost cities believed to be myths until they were discovered, and you have five lost cities.

1. Lagunita
An archeologist from Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts rediscovered the lost Mayan city of Lagunita. He identified a Mayan doorway, the remains of massive buildings, plazas, ball courts, a pyramid and three altars that date back to 711 AD.

The above picture was taken on Oct. 28, 2013 and released by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).  The ruins belonging to the ancient Maya city called Lagunita stand out in the jungle on a remote location in the southern state of Campeche, Mexico. Archaeologists in Mexico first stumbled upon this site in the 1970s and it was rediscovered in 2013.

2. Helike
In the year 373 BC, a giant earthquake hit off the coast of Greece, which created a giant tsunami that swallowed the ancient city of Helike. Then, in 2001 a team finally rediscovered Helike, digging up coins, pottery and ruins. The reason it took them so long to find it? They were looking under water, but it was actually under dirt. The water had long ago dried up.

3. Troy
The famous city of Troy was once believed to be a mythical place, a location, one that never existed in real life. The place that gave us Helen of Troy (the face that launched a thousand ships) and the Trojan Horse. But in 1870, Heinrich Schliemann followed clues laid out in Homer's ILIAD and found the ruins of the fabled city, thus moving Troy from myth to reality.

I read a book about Schliemann's discovery of Troy and then by coincidence a few months later the university's art museum hosted an exhibition of photographs taken at his archeological dig.  It was interesting to see photographs of what the book described.

4. Pavlopetri
Many believe this to be the real life Atlantis. This 5,000-year-old lost city was found in 1967 and is thought to have been submerged about 3,000 years ago. So, it had an impressive lifetime of 2,000 years. Archeologists found roads, buildings, courtyards and pottery.

5. Machu Pichu
Maybe the greatest of the lost cities sits on top of a mountain in Peru. It wasn't rediscovered until 1911 mostly because of its location. People are always digging for lost cities, looking under the oceans or trekking through the jungle. No one thinks to look up to the high mountain tops.

8 comments:

Ashantay said...

I did not know Troy had been found - too cool! We have so much to discover about our beautiful world. Thanks for the post.

Samantha Gentry said...

Ashantay: I think the ultimate discovery would be to find Atlantis (assuming it really existed). Schliemann found Troy from information found in Homer's ILIAD. Plato wrote about Atlantis, so...who knows.

Thanks for your comment.

Maria Imbalzano said...

Interesting post Samantha. Would love to travel to some of them.

Samantha Gentry said...

Maria: I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for your comment.

Mary Morgan said...

Fantastic post! I'm sure there are many more waiting to be discovered, too.

Casi McLean said...

Wow, so interesting! They sound like perfect story settings. Great post Samantha!

Samantha Gentry said...

Mary: I'm sure there are untold numbers of lost cities and even entire civilizations waiting to be discovered. Read an article recently about previously unknown buried pyramids in Egypt showing up on satellite imagery.

Thanks for your comment.

Samantha Gentry said...

Casi: Thanks. That type of archeological dig could certainly produce lots of intrigue for a mystery.

Thanks for your comment.