A long-lost city found in the Americas

Ocomtún: A long-lost Maya city that was just discovered ZRC SAZU Ocomtún: A long-lost Maya city that was just discovered Archaeologist Ivan Šprajc has spent nearly 30 years uncovering long-lost cities buried deep in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Once described by The Guardian as "the real-life Indiana Jones", Šprajc has spent nearly 30 years hacking his way through the remote tangles of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula to find long-lost Maya cities buried deep in the jungle. Late last month, the archaeologist and his team located the remains of an ancient, abandoned Maya city home to numerous pyramid-shaped structures rising more than 15m nestled deep within Mexico's Balamkú Ecological Conservation Zone. Julien Cruciani/Alamy The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth and gets its name from the lost Maya city of Calakmul Why Ocomtún matters The rediscovery of any new lost Maya city holds valuable clues about how Maya people lived and what caused the civilisation's sudden downfall some 1,200 years ago – and this is especially true in an area as little-explored as the central Yucatán Peninsula.