3,000-year-old map of the Universe discovered at ancient Maya site

Thousands of willing people are thought to have helped create a structure used for communal astronomical observations

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An ancient structure discovered in Mexico may reveal how early Maya civilisations understood the cosmos.

In their study, archaeologists say that new findings indicate the 3,000-year-old site, known as Aguada Fénix, was a cosmogram: a geometric map of the Universe.

After discovering one enormous cross-shaped pit (known as a cruciform) hidden under dense jungle overgrowth in 2020, archaeologists later realised it was only one of many nestled into each other and connected by canals.

The total volume of these cruciforms is over 3.8 million cubic metres (1.3 billion cubic feet) - that's about one and a half Pyramids of Giza, or more than 1,500 Olympic swimming pools.

Located in present-day Tabasco, a state in southeast Mexico, the Aguada Fénix site was spotted from the air by researchers using lidar.