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from the si-un-maya-se-desmaya-sigue-siendo-maya? dept.
'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."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday February 03 2018, @08:15PM
By 900 AD the decline in the low-lands was already complete. The population dispersed, draining away of the from these large cities to agricultural settlements. The Maya never did pave much of their cities, so mere absence of foot traffic makes for forest encroachment path. Their buildings were never waterproof, it is humid as hell, and warm year round.
A hundred years is all it takes, even in the US deep south (Cahaba - one time Capital of Alabama [onlyinyourstate.com]), to cover entire abandoned town sites.
In the central american environment, 600 years of abandonment is plenty of time to cover just about anything in jungle growth.
By the time the Spanish invaders arrived, (early 1500s), most Maya were living in agricultural villages, their great cities buried under a layer of rainforest green such that the Spanish never found these places.
Today, Its been over 1100 years since these places were occupied.
I don't find that all that amazing they are over grown.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.