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Exclusive: Laser Scans Reveal Maya "Megalopolis" Below Guatemalan Jungle
nationalgeographic.com ^ | Tom Clynes | Tom Clynes

Posted on 02/02/2018 11:30:31 AM PST by BenLurkin

[S]cholars digitally removed the tree canopy from aerial images of the now-unpopulated landscape, revealing the ruins of a sprawling pre-Columbian civilization that was far more complex and interconnected than most Maya specialists had supposed.

“The LiDAR images make it clear that this entire region was a settlement system whose scale and population density had been grossly underestimated,” said Thomas Garrison, an Ithaca College archaeologist....who specializes in using digital technology for archaeological research.

The project mapped more than 800 square miles (2,100 square kilometers) of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the Petén region of Guatemala, producing the largest LiDAR data set ever obtained for archaeological research.

The results suggest that Central America supported an advanced civilization that was, at its peak some 1,200 years ago, more comparable to sophisticated cultures such as ancient Greece or China than to the scattered and sparsely populated city states that ground-based research had long suggested.

In addition to hundreds of previously unknown structures, the LiDAR images show raised highways connecting urban centers and quarries. Complex irrigation and terracing systems supported intensive agriculture capable of feeding masses of workers who dramatically reshaped the landscape.

...

Virtually all the Mayan cities were connected by causeways wide enough to suggest that they were heavily trafficked and used for trade and other forms of regional interaction. These highways were elevated to allow easy passage even during rainy seasons. In a part of the world where there is usually too much or too little precipitation, the flow of water was meticulously planned and controlled via canals, dikes, and reservoirs.

Among the most surprising findings was the ubiquity of defensive walls, ramparts, terraces, and fortresses. “Warfare wasn’t only happening toward the end of the civilization,” said Garrison. “It was large-scale and systematic, and it endured over many years.”

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


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: ggg; godsgravesglyphs; guatemala; lidar; maya; mayan; mayans; megalopolis
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1 posted on 02/02/2018 11:30:31 AM PST by BenLurkin
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To: SunkenCiv

You may have already posted on this particular story. If so, please forgive me for duplicating.


2 posted on 02/02/2018 11:31:07 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Wow!


3 posted on 02/02/2018 11:36:08 AM PST by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deo et Vives)
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To: BenLurkin

Interesting. With newer technology, we’ll be able to find out a lot more about all of these ancient civilizations in different parts of the world.

The Mayans had obviously had big metropolitan areas, and then something happened - possibly attacks from the Aztecs, but possibly also some disease that reduced their population even prior to the European arrival (which brought European diseases).

Of course, our big disease in the West (Europe and the Americas) is abortion, which has reduced our native populations by close some 100 million.


4 posted on 02/02/2018 11:39:14 AM PST by livius
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To: BenLurkin

5 posted on 02/02/2018 11:39:55 AM PST 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: BenLurkin

6 posted on 02/02/2018 11:39:55 AM PST 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: livius

What I’d like to know is why such a sophisticated and complex people never got past blood sacrifice


7 posted on 02/02/2018 11:41:28 AM PST by SMARTY ("Nearly all men can stand adversity...to test a man's character, give him power." A. Lincoln)
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To: BenLurkin

Their SUVs undoubtedly caused warming, a drought and the collapse of their civilization.


8 posted on 02/02/2018 11:43:37 AM PST by JimRed ( TERM LIMITS, NOW! Build the Wall Faster! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: Vaquero

Sweet!


9 posted on 02/02/2018 11:45:31 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Vaquero

Why didn’t he just take the idol off while holding his thumb on the pad?


10 posted on 02/02/2018 11:49:12 AM PST by Sawdring
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To: SMARTY

Professor Donald Kessler: "We know they're extremely advanced
technologically, which suggests - very rightfully so - that they're peaceful.
An advanced civilization, by definition, is not barbaric."
11 posted on 02/02/2018 11:49:16 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Sawdring

He thought it would have allowed him to walk away without poison arrows, impaling stakes or giant boulders. Didn’t work eh?


12 posted on 02/02/2018 11:52:16 AM PST 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: Sawdring

Same reason, I suppose, that in the movies, a guy who stepped on a mine didn’t just leap off it and run away when he heard the click.


13 posted on 02/02/2018 11:53:48 AM PST by sparklite2 (See more at Sparklite Times)
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To: BenLurkin
The Spanish conquistadors were not exactly invited guests, But I wonder if the guys painted blue were too disappointed to see these ships coming:




14 posted on 02/02/2018 11:54:31 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: SMARTY

What about a civilization that eats its god and aborts its unborn children?


15 posted on 02/02/2018 11:55:32 AM PST by sparklite2 (See more at Sparklite Times)
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To: DariusBane

They were still savages...a city full of savages is now a ruins. Imagine that /sarc


16 posted on 02/02/2018 11:55:40 AM PST by Ouderkirk (Life is about ass, you're either covering, hauling, laughing, kicking, kissing, or behaving like one)
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To: Ouderkirk

17 posted on 02/02/2018 11:56:56 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Interesting.

But this statement: “We’ve had this western conceit that complex civilizations can’t flourish in the tropics, that the tropics are where civilizations go to die” - tells you what the author’s real intent is: to try to diminish European culture and achievement.

Since the article admits they didn’t have the wheel or “beasts of burden”, it’s really hard to swallow that thought. The reality is that Mayan technology was about 3000 yrs behind Mediterranean and ultimately Northern European cultures. Everyone builds pyramids at some point in their development. All you need is rocks and slaves.

It’s still interesting. But it doesn’t mean we should bow to them and think of them as our equals in development.


18 posted on 02/02/2018 11:58:07 AM PST by Regulator
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To: BenLurkin

I’m awestruck at the ability of the LIDAR. It was also ingenious that someone realized vegetation growing on limestone would absorb from the lime making it identifiable by satellite, implying structures beneath. They followed up, went out, and found structures.


19 posted on 02/02/2018 11:58:16 AM PST by sparklite2 (See more at Sparklite Times)
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To: Ouderkirk

Lol true


20 posted on 02/02/2018 11:58:25 AM PST by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deo et Vives)
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