Archaeology: LIDAR Reveals Maya "Megalopolis" Below Guatemalan Jungle

cmhbob · Feb 1, 2018

Fascinating piece from National Geographic here about the discoveries. Looks like the Mayan society was much, much larger than anyone previously thought.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/maya-laser-lidar-guatemala-pacunam

Kjbartolotta · Feb 1, 2018

Tropical cultures tend to develop some rather gargantuan cities. For most of the middle ages the largest city in the world was in Thailand. I always enjoy findings like these, and sometimes I wonder if, in a thousand years, there are going to be articles where cities like Los Angeles are also 'discovered' to be larger than anyone expected.

MaeZe · Feb 1, 2018

That is so cool, reveals even more than satellites do.

I've been to Tikal, Palenque, Chichen Itza and a bunch of other places in that part of the world.

Sigh....great memories.

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Kjbartolotta said:
Tropical cultures tend to develop some rather gargantuan cities. For most of the middle ages the largest city in the world was in Thailand. I always enjoy findings like these, and sometimes I wonder if, in a thousand years, there are going to be articles where cities like Los Angeles are also 'discovered' to be larger than anyone expected.

Marine archeology.

blacbird · Feb 1, 2018

A similar thing has happened with Angkor in Cambodia. Much much larger than previously thought.

caw

Kjbartolotta · Mar 6, 2018

http://discovermagazine.com/2014/march/16-the-power-and-glory-of-the-maya-queens

Slightly unrelated, and also an old article, but I thought I'd post it since these queens ruled in the region being discussed (and it speaks to both the level of sophistication and how little we know about the Mayans). Also, soft spot for any article discovering lost female monarchs.

Archaeology: LIDAR Reveals Maya "Megalopolis" Below Guatemalan Jungle

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog

MaeZe

blacbird

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog