Ancient Mayan city unearthed

Archaeologists have mapped an early Mayan city, revealing the city used a unique grid pattern.

Archaeologists working at Nixtun-Ch'ich' in Peten, Guatemala, have found that the city, which contains flat-topped pyramids, may be dated back to 600 B.C. and 300 B.C., a period when the first cities were being constructed in the area.

No other city from the Mayan world was planned using this grid design, reported Live Science.

"This city was organised in a way we haven't seen in other places," said Timothy Pugh, a professor at Queens College in New York.

The findings were presented at the Society for American Archaeology's annual meeting in San Francisco.

People living in the area have known of the Nixtun-Ch'ich' site for a long time.

"You get about 15 buildings in an exact straight line -- that's the main ceremonial area," Pugh added.

The residential areas of the city were built to the north and south of the ceremonial route and were also packed into the city's grid design.

Many of the city's structures were decorated with shiny white plaster.

"It was probably a very shiny city," Pugh said.

The city's orientation, facing almost directly east, would have helped people follow the movements of the sun, something that may have been of importance to their religion.