Lidar Imagery Reveals More Than 6,500 Unexplored Ancient Mayan Settlements, Including Pyramids

The DeBrief ^ | October 29, 2024 | Christopher Plain

[SunkenCiv]

Using advanced lidar imagery, researchers from Tulane University have discovered over 6,500 unexplored ancient Mayan settlements hidden beneath dense Mexican jungle forests.

The researchers say their findings only scratch the surface of the settlements that likely populate the country's unexplored landscape.

The team involved with the historic discovery employed lidar technology to scan a 50-square-mile section of the overgrown landscape in Campeche, Mexico. Like radar, which uses radio waves to image objects, lidar employs laser pulses that bounce off different materials at different rates. These reflected pulses allow researchers to peer beneath the surface of several types of terrains, including jungle forests, by creating a three-dimensional map of hidden structures invisible to the human eye...

That analysis revealed a "vast unexplored" network of ancient Mayan settlements hidden by dense overgrowth. Among the previously unknown ancient Hispanic structures was a large city with stone pyramids reminiscent of previously discovered iconic ancient Mayan pyramids...

Along with its cultural and historical significance, the discovery of such an extensive network of ancient Mayan settlements shows how lidar technology has dramatically altered the landscape of archaeology. In this case, the technology was provided by The Middle American Research Institute (MARI) at Tulane University, which has spent the last ten years expanding and improving lidar's application.

[Bernard Marx]

Both of their blood lines still exist but not as a civilization nor tribe.

You should visit the Maya Mountain area of Belize. The Maya there survive as a mostly distinct culture. They still practice forms of ancient Mayan rituals. They are not Hispanic in any sense. The location is quite close to the ancient Mayan city-states of Caracol, Naranja and Tikal.