Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Maya river port dating back to 600 B.C. in southeast Mexico.

The 23 archaeological pieces that were retrieved in the Mexican state of Tabasco has established the existence of the port there, experts said.

-Gaea News

Excavation began a little over three months ago in a site which has an area of roughly 87 hectares and is located adjacent to the rural ranching community of Reforma.

The community belongs to the municipality of Balancan, which in Maya means place of tigers and serpents, and is located 250 kilometers from Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco.

Experts heading the excavation, believe the port was used by the Mayan cities that were once located in the present-day Mexican states of Campeche and Chiapas, and in the neighboring Guatemala.

“The hypothesis tells us that this zone could have been a route for those who were … seeking to trade.”
- Benito Lopez, Archaeology expert leading the excavation

Archaeologists studying a pyramid at the site said the structure deeply resembled the ruins of Calakmul in Campeche which would lend proof of the spread of the Maya civilization throughout the country.

Archaeologists, excavating the ancient Maya river port, have found 23 artifacts such as masks, small sculptures, stones, and arrow heads thus strengthening the historic importance of the Maya city of Moral-Reforma.

The first investigatory work was done on the main structures at the Maya port 17 years ago, and some of the principal monuments have been restored, among them a traditional ball court and three buildings.

Five stone plaques with inscriptions, some complete and others just fragmentary, from previous excavations, are currently exhibited at the museum in Balancan and the Carlos Pellicer Museum in Villahermosa.

The new pieces, found to date, were sent to the Villahermosa office of Mexico’s National Anthropology and History Institute for restoration.

The Maya civilization, between 250 B.C. and 1,000 A.D., extended from the present-day Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, to the Central American countries of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras