Ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle were recently unearthed by archaeologists in an expedition. The Ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle reportedly contained giant palaces and a temple pyramid as high as 65 feet.

According to multiple reports, these two ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle of Campeche, Yucatan peninsula have been hidden there for centuries. Before the researchers were able to find them, the cities were barely accessible, completely hidden in lush vegetation, reports The Epoch Times.

According to The Inquisitr, archeologists had to use aerial photographs to find the sites of the two ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle.

Expedition leader Ivan Sprajc of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) said, "Aerial photographs helped us in locating the sites."

Apparently, the two ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle were initially discovered way back in the 1970s by American archaeologist Eric Von Euw. However, the exact location of one of the cities Von Euw referred to as Lagunita, was never found.

According to the International Business Times, Von Euw even documented details of the city's facade and its other stone monuments through drawings, still unpublished.

Sprajc was bent on leading an expedition into finding the two ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle.

He told Discovery News, "The information about Lagunita were vague and totally useless. In the jungle you can be as little as 600 feet from a large site and do not even suspect it might be there."

He added, "Small mounds are all over the place, but they give you no idea about where an urban center might be."

According to The Epoch Times, the first city is called Lagunita. Lagunita has doorways akin to the open mouth of an earth monster. The second city was named Tamchen, meaning "deep well" in Yucatec Maya. Tamchen's history is believed to be from way back Late Preclassic, between 300 B.C. and 250 A.D.

Lagunita's earth monster facade, reports the IBTimes, was how archaeologists found the city, comparing the recently discovered facade and Von Euw's drawings.

Sprajc was quoted saying of the facade of one of the two ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle, "The monster-mouth facade represents a Maya earth deity related with fertility. These doorways symbolize the entrance to a cave and, in general, to the watery underworld, place of mythological origin of maize and abode of ancestors."

The remains of the ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle were found by Sprajc and his team while they explored the area he recognised in 2013. It reportedly extended over 1800 square miles around Chactun, a large Maya city.

A number of massive structures, such as a ball court and a temple pyramid which towers over 65 ft along with 10 stelae (tall sculpted stone shafts) and three altars, were also found in the ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle. These discoveries amazingly featured extremely well preserved hieroglyphic inscriptions.

According to experts, the inscriptions may have been built during 300 BC to 250 AD.

Meanwhile, inside Tamchen, the other city, more that 30 chultuns, which are bottle shaped chambers mostly used to collect rain water, were unearthed.

Tamchen was also reportedly surrounded by large buildings and remains of an acropolis supporting a courtyard with three temples. The city also featured a pyramid temple with a sanctuary on top, a stela and an altar at its base.

Sprajc told Discovery News of the ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle, "Both cities open new questions about the diversity of Maya culture, the role of that largely unexplored area in the lowland Maya history, and its relations with other polities."

Meanwhile, it still remains unclear how the Mayan civilization ended. Theories from droughts to overpopulation were thought to have caused their demise.

Ancient Mayan cities discovered in Mexican jungle photos can be found here.

A video can also be seen below.