[ad_1]
Laser technology has detected more than 60,000 previously unknown structures in northern Guatemala.
PACUNAM / Estrada-Belli
The largest survey ever conducted on a region of the Mayan civilization has located more than 60,000 previously unknown structures in northern Guatemala. The survey, conducted with the help of lasers, challenges the long-standing assumptions that this area was poorly connected and sparsely populated.
The structures that researchers have identified include farms, homes and defensive fortifications, as well as 60 miles of roadways, roads and canals connecting major cities across the central lowlands of civilization. Sarah Parcak, an archaeologist who uses satellite technology, had this reaction on Twitter when the preliminary images became public: "This is SAINT [expletive] territory "(Parcak did not participate in this study).
The ancient Mayan civilization stretched from southern Mexico to Guatemala and Belize, flourishing between 1000 BC and 39 AD. and 1500 A.D. The recent study covered 830 square miles of the Mayan Biosphere Reserve in Peten, Guatemala. Scientists have used a laser technology called lidar, or light detection and telemetry, to penetrate the thick tree covers of the area and discover underlying archaeological remains.
New technologies make it possible to study and visualize ancient Mayan cities like never before.
"data-full-height =" 1012 "data-full-src =" https://www.history.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Ch_2000%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_2000/MTU4NzcyMDc4MDQyOTQ5MzM2/mayan-structure-screenshot- video-data-image-id = "ci0234125d500026a1" data-image-slug = "structure-maya-video-capture" data-public-id = "MTU4NzcyMDc4MDQyOTQ5MzM2" title-de data = "Lasers reveal 60,000 ancient Mayan structures in Guatemala" /> <phx-gallery-image data-caption-html = "
A newly documented site north of Tikal illustrates the range of features discovered by lidar, as well as the complexity of their interpretation. The elongated building at the top right may be earlier than 500 BC. Across the valley, the tall structure is probably a thousand years younger, although it may cover earlier constructions.
"data-full-height =" 1268 "data-full-src =" https://www.history.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Ch_2000%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_2000/MTU4NzcxMjc0MzQ3MTk0MDcy/mayan_maps_canuto1hr.jpg " data-full-width = "2000" data-id-of-data = "ci023411a2900026a1" data-image-slug = "mayan_maps_canuto1HR" id-data-public = "MTU4NzcxMjc0MzQ3MTk0MDcy" name-source-data = "Luke Auld-Thomas / PACUNAM "data-title =" Lasers reveal 60,000 ancient Mayan structures in Guatemala "/> <phx-gallery-image data-caption-html ="
Familiar Shaded Terrain Terrain Views (left) can hide subtle but important details, such as low mounds or cross-channel terraces. More complex visualizations, such as the red relief map (in the center), bring out these details, but archaeologists still need to identify and classify the features manually for later analysis (right).
"data-full-height =" 929 "data-full-src =" https://www.history.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Ch_2000%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_2000/MTU4NzcxMjk5ODQ4NTYyMzky/mayan_maps_canuto2hr.jpg " data-full-width = "2000" image-image-id = "ci023411a8700026a1" image-slug = "mayan_maps_canuto2HR" id-data-public = "MTU4NzcxMjk5ODQ4NTYyMzky" data-source-name = "Luke Auld-Thomas and Marcello A Canuto / PACUNAM "data-title =" Lasers reveal 60,000 ancient Mayan structures in Guatemala "/> <phx-gallery-image data-caption-html ="
Close up on some of the newly documented Mayan structures.
"data-full-height =" 767 "data-full-src =" https://www.history.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Ch_2000%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_2000/MTU4NzcxMzA1MjE3MjcxNDU3/image-mayan- map.jpg "data-full-width =" 1233 "image-id-image" "ci023411a9500026a1" data-image-slug = "picture-mayan-map" data-public-id = "MTU4NzcxMzA1MjE3MjcxNDU3" source-name-of-de data = "PACUNAM / Estrada-Belli" data-title = "Lasers reveal 60,000 ancient Mayan structures in Guatemala" /> <phx-gallery-image data-caption-html = "
A look at the remaining Mayan structures.
"data-full-height =" 722 "data-full-src =" https://www.history.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Ch_2000%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_2000/MTU4NzcxMzA1MjE3MzM2OTkz/image-mayan- now.jpg "data-full-width =" 1233 "data-id-of-data" "ci023411a9500126a1" data-image-slug = "image-mayan-now" data-public-id = "MTU4NzcxMzA1MjE3MzM2OTkz" "Luke Auld- Thomas / PACUNAM "data-title =" Lasers reveal 60,000 ancient Mayan structures in Guatemala "/>
Lidar can point the researchers in the right direction, but he does not find everything under the trees. This is why the researchers also had to dig areas where the lidar identified old structures. The Washington Post reports that "the lidar analysis was conservative -[researchers] found the predicted structures, then a few. "
Ancient archaeologists believed that the central lowlands of the Mayas in northern Guatemala were small, disconnected city-states led by belligerent elites. More recently, archaeologists theorized that the area was more interconnected and densely populated than originally thought.
"Although this last point of view has been growing in recent years, the lack of regional data left the debate unresolved," the researchers write in an article about their study published this week in the paper. Science. Now, they write that their research provides "strong support" for the idea that the central lowlands have a complex structure and support a large population.
"Every Mayan city was bigger and more populated than we thought," said archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli, one of the authors of the study. Science News.
The newly discovered structures, as well as the modified farmland that the study also identified, lead researchers to estimate that 7 to 11 million Mayans lived in northern Guatemala during the late classical period of 650 to 800 AD . , "Obligates to re-evaluate the demography, agriculture and the Mayan political economy".
[ad_2]Source link
