Life In The Ancient Mayan Empire Was Unbelievably Strange

Life In The Ancient Mayan Empire Was Unbelievably Strange

Shannon Quinn - February 21, 2023

Life In The Ancient Mayan Empire Was Unbelievably Strange
LiDAR technology helped uncover this hidden Mayan city. Credit: BBC

An Ancient Mayan City Was Recently Discovered

Modern technology truly is amazing. One of these technologies is something called LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection And Ranging. LiDAR uses laser pulses to map areas of terrain to exquisite detail. What’s especially useful is that it can see through foliage,making it perfect for places like a rain forest. Indiana Jones would have taken a lifetime to discover what can now be found in minutes. The use of this technology is what led to the discovery of a previously unknown Mayan city in Guatemala. This city is over 2,000 years old, and spanned for a huge 650 square miles. Previous research had concluded that the population was very small. The discovery of this massive city with canals, reservoirs, and ball courts, showed that the population was much higher and denser than originally thought. Modern technology is helping us connect to the beauty of the past.

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