A Mayan Archaeologist Has Discovered 27 Previously Unknown Ancient Sites—All (from his Computer)

artnet.com ^ | 10/10/2019 | Sarah Cascone

[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.

[colorado tanker]

[Vermont Lt]

That is funny.

[PIF]

There are similar (to Marcahuasi) things in Romania which were used by the Neanderthals

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Tikal is enormous, a 3.5 hour long walking tour in which most of your time is spent walking. They also have a large number of athletic Guatemalan girls as tour guides.

For years it was assumed that Tikal had to be the capital of their empire, until a geologist was inspecting an unusual topographical feature, a ridgeline about 30 miles north of there, unique in the area, which is dotted with small volcanoes. After poking around on it for a while, he said it’s not natural, it’s a buried city.

Archeologists threw up their hands, because they would need thousands of workers and many millions of dollars just to unearth it, much less restore it. We’re too busy. Maybe in a few hundred years.