SoylentNews

LIDAR Reveals Huge Number of Previously Unknown Mayan Structures

posted by mrpg on Saturday February 03 2018, @12:09PM   
from the si-un-maya-se-desmaya-sigue-siendo-maya? dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

'Game Changer': Maya Cities Unearthed In Guatemala Forest Using Lasers

By raining down laser pulses on some 770 square miles of dense forest in northern Guatemala, archaeologists have discovered 60,000 Maya structures that make up full sprawling cities.

And the new technology provides them with an unprecedented view into how the ancient civilization worked, revealing almost industrial agricultural infrastructure and new insights into Maya warfare.

"This is a game changer," says Thomas Garrison, an archaeologist at Ithaca College who is one of the leaders of the project. It changes "the base level at which we do Maya archaeology."

The data reveals that the area was three or four times more densely populated than originally thought. "I mean, we're talking about millions of people, conservatively," says Garrison. "Probably more than 10 million people."

---

Original Submission

• Re:YOU don't have any evidence. Re:YOU don't have any evidence. (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 03 2018, @04:42PM (3 children)

  by Runaway1956 (2926) on Saturday February 03 2018, @04:42PM (#632583) Journal

  So - Atlantis never discovered the coca plant? Or they didn't discover carbonated beverages? Obvious is obvious - any civilization is going to make and distribute beverages. Beer is the first stop for any civilization, immediately after fire and cooked foods. As soon as parents get tired of drunken toddlers falling into the fire, they invent soft drinks. Coca cola is inevitable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIbEj1CIpuU [youtube.com]

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+1
  Insightful=1, Total=1
  Extra 'Insightful' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		3

• But we cannot fathom how many things were built. (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @05:56PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @05:56PM (#632614)

  Yet, even our modern Civilization's engineers (with their modern tools) become confused by what the ancient people achieved with massive, precision-cut stones.

  So, your argument doesn't really work, now does it? In some things we are more knowledgeable, while in others, they were more knowledgeable.

  Parent

• Re:YOU don't have any evidence. Re:YOU don't have any evidence. (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @09:47PM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @09:47PM (#632683)

  Yet we still don't know what was Soma [wikipedia.org]

  Parent

  • Re:YOU don't have any evidence. (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 05 2018, @08:28AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 05 2018, @08:28AM (#633203)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhang [wikipedia.org]

    Parent