US: 1,100-Year-Old Mayan Ruins Found in North Georgia

David Ferguson
RawStory
Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:00 UTC

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient Mayan city in the mountains of North Georgia believed to be at least 1,100 years old. According to Richard Thornton at Examiner.com, the ruins are reportedly what remains of a city built by Mayans fleeing wars, volcanic eruptions, droughts and famine.

In 1999, University of Georgia archeologist Mark Williams led an expedition to investigate the Kenimer Mound, a large, five-sided pyramid built in approximately 900 A.D. in the foothills of Georgia's tallest mountain, Brasstown Bald. Many local residents has assumed for years that the pyramid was just another wooded hill, but in fact it was a structure built on an existing hill in a method common to Mayans living in Central America as well as to Southeastern Native American tribes.

Speculation has abounded for years as to what could have happened to the people who lived in the great Meso-American societies of the first century. Some historians believed that they simply died out in plagues and food shortages, but others have long speculated about the possibility of mass migration to other regions.

When evidence began to turn up of Mayan connections to the Georgia site, South African archeologist Johannes Loubser brought teams to the site who took soil samples and analyzed pottery shards which dated the site and indicated that it had been inhabited for many decades approximately 1000 years ago. The people who settled there were known as Itza Maya, a word that carried over into the Cherokee language of the region.

The city that is being uncovered there is believed to have been called Yupaha, which Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto searched for unsuccessfully in 1540. So far, archeologists have unearthed "at least 154 stone masonry walls for agricultural terraces, plus evidence of a sophisticated irrigation system and ruins of several other stone structures." Much more may still be hidden underground.

The find is particularly relevant in that it establish specific links between the culture of Southeastern Native Americans and ancient Mayans. According to Thornton, it may be the "most important archeological discovery in recent times."

Reader Comments

ozman · 2011-12-22T09:59:57Z

WOW

That is interesting,to have the Mayan culture clear up into GA.So then I'm thinking that the native american indians at least some of them could have been Mayans after all,that is so cool.Makes you wonder what other wonders lay beneath our feet that nobody remembers or knows about.The world history is an amazing thing to learn.

OhSoCuriouSo · 2011-12-29T17:26:04Z

Linguist have seen connections between Meso-American and Southwestern Groups for at least half a century.

adanie15 · 2011-12-22T11:03:43Z

Fascinating!

I've been to Brasstown Bald on several hikes, and I wonder if I've ever seen this pyramid and thought it was a wooded hill. So many implications, this requires a history rewrite! How exciting!

l_e_cox · 2011-12-22T21:57:12Z

Mayans in North America?

My introduction to the idea that the Mayans once built step pyramids in North America was via the book "A Very Strange Trip," a Dave Wolverton adaptation of a Hubbard screenplay.

In one of several time travel adventures, the protagonists find themselves in the ancient Midwest near a Mayan-type city on the banks of the Mississippi. It goes into quite a lot of detail about the place. Before reading it, I never thought of the Mayans as being a pan-American culture.

Apparently, most historians realize that some ancient North American cultures shared similarities with what we know as the Maya, but aren't willing to go so far as to make a direct connection.

skyking1933 · 2011-12-22T23:05:05Z

THERE IS MUCH MORE TO THIS STORY

To gain real insight to NATIVE AMERICAN ( central and north american ) HISTORY, read " He Walked the Americas " a story that weaves together ancient legends common to all the various tribes about a Christ - Like figure that visited them and TAUGHT them.. It will also explain why the MORMONS ( falsely ) believe the Native Americans are the " Lost tribes of ISRAEL " because of the engraved images of a " CHRIST - LIKE portraits on flat stones that are found in Native American burial sites, and collected by the Mormons. .
I had the privilage of attending a week long seminar on spirituality given by RED ELK, one of the very few " Keepers of the Truth " of the secret knowlege of Native americans, and I asked him about the book mentioned above, and he said of course it is true. It is the reason that Native Americans had such great respect for this planet and all the things GOD provided. Sadly, some tribes, groups reverted to the Law of the Jungle It is a FASCINATING READ.