Mexico City, June 7 (IANS/EFE) Mexican authorities have preserved an archaeological area with several Maya buildings more than 1,500 years old that were buried under a highway in the Yucatan peninsula.

The archaeological zone, comprising the remains of five Maya buildings, was part of the ancient city of Oxkintok and is located on both sides of the highway, where a roadside stop has been set up so that visitors or travelers can look around, the National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, said.

The work to preserve the Maya buildings took more than three years and the site is located on a federal highway linking the cities of Merida – the capital of Yucatan state – and Campeche, INAH said in a statement.

“The constructions are part of the great residential platforms that measure 60 meters long by 50 meters wide, over which masonry buildings and vaulted roofs were erected around a patio,” said the coordinator of the achaeological salvage work, Eunice Gonzalez.

She said the Oxkintok area is of great relevance to archaeology because it contains buildings of all types and from all chronological eras in the Maya region.

via Maya ruins buried under Mexican highway preserved.