In Russia this year, the memory will be perpetuated and the 100th anniversary of the birth of the ethnographer Yury Knorozov, who deciphered the Mayan script, will be celebrated. The corresponding decree was signed on July 1 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I am instructing the Government of the Russian Federation to ensure the development and approval of a plan of main events to perpetuate the memory of Yu. V. Knorozov, to prepare and hold the celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth within three months,” the Russian leader instructed, noting the outstanding contribution of the Russian ethnographer.
In 2018, a monument to Knorozov was unveiled in the Mexican city of Merida. On the front side of the stele, about 3 m high, there is a full-length depiction of a scientist with his beloved cat, and Mayan hieroglyphs on the back.
The writing of the ancient Maya could not be deciphered for several centuries, many scientists from different countries took up this, and only Knorozov succeeded, “in the office” in the 70s of the last century. He visited Mexico only in 1990.
Shortly before the installation of the monument to the Russian ethnographer, archaeologists found 60 thousand buildings of the Maya civilization in Guatemala. In the course of research on the territory of the Biosphere Reserve, experts discovered buildings and palaces, a network of roads, religious buildings and fortifications.
It was possible to detect the ancient city using lidar (LiDAR), a technology for detecting distant objects with an optical system using the phenomenon of light reflection and its scattering in transparent and translucent media.