The Nat Geog article about it states that (oh no!) forest clearing is going on to create pasturing for cattle, and they’re only a couple of miles from the valley where these ruins are spread out. So, IOW, these really remote ruins would have been found in a few years anyway. :’)
“forest clearing is going on to create pasturing for cattle”
Every time I see something like that, it makes me wonder at the level of ignorance of people who just keep doing this slash and burn clearing-how is it they have not figured out how to keep the huge pasturage they already have planted with native grass, the way every rancher here does-plant hay in late winter/early spring and harvest it in summer/fall-and they even have a climate that can support year round planting. It is not like someone just gave them cows yesterday-they have been raising them since the Spaniards brought them over...