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posted by mrpg on Saturday February 03 2018, @12:09PM   Printer-friendly
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."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @09:32PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @09:32PM (#632677)

    The OP is correct. There is a decree of precision that is hard to explain. For one, it's not just a matter of decoration; it's a matter of serious engineering, though even some of the decorative work (particularly in very hard stones) is difficult to accept on the basis of what archaeologists tell us about the tools that were available to these "primitive" peoples.

    Also, work degrades with time; some of the best work is some of the very oldest. That suggests there is not a development in technology, but rather a legacy of technology.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 04 2018, @04:15AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday February 04 2018, @04:15AM (#632785) Journal

    There is a decree of precision that is hard to explain. For one, it's not just a matter of decoration; it's a matter of serious engineering, though even some of the decorative work (particularly in very hard stones) is difficult to accept on the basis of what archaeologists tell us about the tools that were available to these "primitive" peoples.

    What is hard to explain about it? There's over a millennium of stone-working history in the region and the Incas were particularly good engineers with a lot of other accomplishments to their name (such as the terrace agriculture and extensive road and bridge systems).

    some of the best work is some of the very oldest.

    Looking around, most of the best work was done during the reign of Pachacuti, in the mid to late 15th century with the European disaster befalling the empire a few decades after his death in the 1530s. So not seeing that claim.