Incredible 3,000-year-old city of pyramids discovered by archaeologists - not in Egypt

A 3,000-year-old city with pyramids, which has been discovered by archaeologists, is believed to be "one of the most ancient and important ceremonial centres" of the Mayan civilisation. Los Abuelos, a ceremonial center, was found in the dense jungles of Guatemala, near the Mexican border.

Dating back to the middle of the Preclassic period (800-500 BC), it is located approximately 13 miles from the well-known archaeological site of Uaxactun, in Guatemala's northern Peten region.

The Maya lived in Mesoamerica - which includes  today's Mexico and parts of Central America - in about 2,000 BC.

Los Abuelos spans out across about six square miles, and according to Guatemala's culture ministry, it features "remarkable architectural planning", which includes pyramids, sacred sanctuaries, and monuments adorned with unique regional iconography.

The city, which translates as 'The Grandparents' in Spanish, takes its name from two human-like stone figures, which date to between 500 and 300 BC, and are believed to represent an ancestral couple, suggesting the significance of ancestor worship in early Mayan rituals.

A notable structure within the city is a 108-foot-high pyramid, which contains two preserved rooms decorated with murals depicting symbolic scenes. Additionally, an intricate palace with a 'unique canal system' has been discovered, indicating advanced water management practices.

This discovery was made by a collaborative team of Guatemalan and International archaeologists, with support from Comenius University in Slovakia, GBNews reports.

This ongoing archaeological project has led to the identification of two other sites, Petnal and Cambraya.

The ministry stated this week: "The set of these three sites forms a previously unknown urban triangle. These findings allow us to rethink the understanding of the ceremonial and socio-political organisation of pre-Hispanic Peten."

This discovery follows another significant find in April. A 1,000-year-old altar from Mexico's ancient Teotihuacan culture at Tinkal, elsewhere in Peten, suggests potential cultural connections between the two ancient civilisations, which lived about 1,300 kilometers apart.