Archaeologists in Mexico discover the land of the dead Zapotecs of Liobaa (video)

A group of archaeologists from the Lyobaa project has reported the confirmation of the existence of a large underground Zapotec complex. It was found during the study of Mitla, an archaeological site associated with the Zapotec culture located in the Oaxaca Valley in southern Mexico.

According to reports, the Zapotecs settled Mitla in the Classical period (100-650 AD) and turned it into a major religious center. According to their beliefs, the Zapotecs considered Mitla to be the gateway between the world of the living and the world of the dead, the burial place of the Zapotec elite. Therefore, it was also called Miktlan, which translates as "place of the dead" or "underworld".

For a long time, scholars believed that the Zapotecs built an intricate maze of chambers and passageways beneath the monumental stone structures of the Broomstick in order to reach Liobaa, the entrance to the Zapotec underworld or Land of the Dead, Arkeonews reports.

Read also: More than 220 new statues of terracotta warriors buried in 210 BC discovered in China

The Lyobaa project, supported by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), began exploring Mitla in 2022. The researchers used geophysical exploration techniques such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and seismic noise tomography to locate the underground chambers and passages of the Mitla.

Thanks to these technologies, the archaeologists created 3D models of the underworld of Mitla. The results of the geophysical surveys unequivocally confirmed the presence of many underground chambers and tunnels extending under a complex of structures known as the Church Group. There are five groups of above-ground structures in Mitla, one of which is a 16th-century Catholic church.

As a reminder, near the village of Kaczków in Poland, archaeologists have made a discovery that could change our understanding of ancient rituals. Using drones to survey several fields near the village, they discovered an ancient ritual center that could have been an astronomical observatory.

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