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A Mayan Archaeologist Has Discovered 27 Previously Unknown Ancient Sites—All (from his Computer)
artnet.com ^ | 10/10/2019 | Sarah Cascone

Posted on 10/14/2019 4:20:59 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

A resourceful archaeologist has made the stunning discovery of 27 new ancient Mayan sites—all without ever leaving his desk.

Takeshi Inomata, an researcher at the University of Arizona, made his discoveries using freely accessible light detection and ranging maps (LiDAR for short) published in 2011 by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography in Mexico, according to the New York Times.

The organization created the map, which surveys 4,400 square miles of land in the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, with an eye toward serving businesses and researchers. An even though the imagery is low resolution, it still suited Inomata’s needs, especially considering it was free. (Inomata recently spent $62,000 on a less fruitful LiDAR map, and even then the price reflected a steep discount.)

Using the technology, Inomata—who specializes in the origins of Mayan civilization and its links to the early Olmec people—identified ceremonial sites never before seen by scholars.

Inomata’s new findings include large constructions that are low to the ground, up to two-thirds of a mile in length, and easily obscured by thick brush.

“If you walk on it, you don’t realize it,” Inomata told the Times. “It’s so big it just looks like a part of the natural landscape.”

His findings are now inspiring other archaeologists to take a look at publicly available LiDAR maps.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.artnet.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: arizona; chiapas; godsgravesglyphs; lidar; maya; mayans; mexico; tabasco; takeshiinomata; uofarizona
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Full title: A Mayan Archaeologist Has Discovered 27 Previously Unknown Ancient Sites—All Without Ever Leaving His Computer
1 posted on 10/14/2019 4:20:59 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux
Inomata ... identified ceremonial sites never before seen by scholars.

If they haven't been excavated or even physically explored, how does the writer know these are "ceremonial sites"?

2 posted on 10/14/2019 4:29:28 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("Self-esteem has completely obliterated self-respect as a desideratum." ~Theodore Dalrymple)
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To: RoosterRedux
This thread is better with pictures.

The shot on the right is rather amazing.

3 posted on 10/14/2019 4:32:38 AM PDT by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Tax-chick
If they haven't been excavated or even physically explored, how does the writer know these are "ceremonial sites"?

Photo by Takeshi Inomata.

I guess he can tell by looking.


4 posted on 10/14/2019 4:37:49 AM PDT by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: RoosterRedux

Didn’t know the Mayans had computers. Learn something new every day


5 posted on 10/14/2019 4:38:22 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: philman_36

mebbe “ceremonial sites” can be “culturally appropriated” from their owners ?


6 posted on 10/14/2019 4:42:15 AM PDT by mo ("If you understand, no explanation is needed; if you don't understand, no explanation is possible")
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To: Tax-chick

Because something, something, Sea Peoples.


7 posted on 10/14/2019 4:45:00 AM PDT by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the disco)
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To: mo
mebbe “ceremonial sites” can be “culturally appropriated” from their owners ?

I would say yes...if the owners are white.
Since in all probability the owners are "Hispanic" the Mexican government will just steal it outright then turn it into a tourist attraction and rake in all the profits.

8 posted on 10/14/2019 4:49:58 AM PDT by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: philman_36
The earth heals itself and tends to devour all artifacts.

The honest mind must wonder what Homo sapiens was doing in the 200,000 or so years between his appearance on earth and the dawn of history ca. 3,000 B.C.

There is evidence of great civilizations during this period. If this is true, most of the structures and artifacts have been effaced or devoured by the earth, but traces remain to be discovered, and miracles of technology, yet to be developed, will no doubt reveal some of them.

Arguments against their existence are the use of stone alone in the construction of ancient buildings and the absence of metal artifacts, some but not all, of which, it would seem, would have been devoured.

On the other hand, such things as the Mahabharata, the Ur battery, the Piri Reis map, the Planes of Nasca, the weathering of the Sphinx, the legend of Atlantis, et al. cannot be ignored by truth seekers. The Trojan War was considered mythology until Heinrich Schliemann produced convincing evidence of its true existence.

9 posted on 10/14/2019 4:59:55 AM PDT by Savage Beast (President Donald Trump: An honest man in a pit of vipers. Pray for America. Pray for President Trump)
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To: Vaquero
Takeshi Inomata...

FWIW, I don't think this dude's Mayan...🤔

10 posted on 10/14/2019 5:05:35 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: RoosterRedux

I like the one where an acedemic decides to try to locate an item he believes is the staff of Moses. He works from his office chasing this thing all around the world...and when he finally tracks it down it is in a museum literally across the street from where he’d been working.


11 posted on 10/14/2019 5:07:57 AM PDT by TalBlack (Damn right I'll "do something" you fat, balding son of a bitc)
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To: RoosterRedux
Map of the major known centers of their empire.

Map of the city of Tikal, in northern Guatemala, which has been restored over the course of a century.

Picture of Temple I and Temple II (see map)

The "gravestone" like objects are "stele", which have carved images and text written by the Maya. To create a hard, flat surface on which to build their temples, they created a concrete slab of ground limestone. In Tikal, they had also built large artificial lakes, lined with this limestone concrete.

12 posted on 10/14/2019 5:17:14 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Liberalism is the belief everyone else should be in treatment for your disorder.)
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To: philman_36; Tax-chick

Is that the actual imagery?

The key to image classification is to look at the pixel values - if you find a cluster of pixel values that is different from the surrounding pixel values, you’ve got a candidate for something.

Concluding that all of those clusters are Mayan sites is a bit of a stretch, even if those clusters have similar pixel values to known Mayan sites.


13 posted on 10/14/2019 5:19:35 AM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: mewzilla
FWIW, I don't think this dude's Mayan...

Probably not...


14 posted on 10/14/2019 5:26:09 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: mewzilla

Yeah. It’s like a joke. You know. Based on the title and the authors grammatical usage.


15 posted on 10/14/2019 5:33:22 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

A number of years ago I had the pleasure of visiting the Mayan ruins in Copan, Honduras. It was an amazing experience.....


16 posted on 10/14/2019 5:44:19 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (I'm in the cleaning business.......I launder money)
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To: Vaquero

Apparently the editor’s, too....


17 posted on 10/14/2019 5:47:46 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

My brother-in-law, who is from Honduras, has an actual Mayan stone sculpture that was unearthed while his family’s sugar cane field was being plowed decades ago......There were other stone artifacts with it but they were destroyed.


18 posted on 10/14/2019 5:50:57 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (I'm in the cleaning business.......I launder money)
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To: mac_truck

Nippon. Honto, daro!


19 posted on 10/14/2019 5:53:47 AM PDT by Tucker39 ("It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington)
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To: Tax-chick

10,000 years from now l do you think you would be able to identify the outline of a football stadium from a photo from the sky? If you look at enough of these sites, you can make educated guesses.


20 posted on 10/14/2019 5:58:38 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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