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

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-10-30 01:45:49 | Updated at 2024-10-30 07:30:01 5 hours ago

Lidar Imagery Reveals More Than 6,500 Unexplored Ancient Mayan Settlements, Including Pyramids
The DeBrief ^ | October 29, 2024 | Christopher Plain

Posted on 10/29/2024 6:42:41 PM PDT by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at thedebrief.org ...

TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; lidar; mayans

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1 posted on 10/29/2024 6:42:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

2 posted on 10/29/2024 6:43:08 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)

To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

3 posted on 10/29/2024 6:43:23 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)

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