Geologists discover massive Maya site using lidar technology

Lasers have revealed a massive, 650-square-mile Maya site hidden beneath the Guatemalan rainforest. Geologists in northern Guatemala used an aerial survey via airplane using lidar (light detection and ranging) to detect the sprawling Maya site. Lidar is a technology that beams out lasers, and the reflected light is used to create aerial imagery of a landscape. The technology is particularly beneficial in areas such as the rainforests of Guatemala’s Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin, where lasers can penetrate the thick tree canopy. Using data from the scans, the team identified more than 1,000 settlements dotting the region, which were interconnected by 100 miles of causeways that the Maya likely traversed on foot.

The lidar data revealed an area that was integrated politically and economically, and never seen before in other places in the Western Hemisphere. The researchers detected the remains of several large platforms and pyramids, along with canals and reservoirs used for water collection. The findings were the result of an aerial survey that researchers conducted via airplane using lidar (light detection and ranging), in which lasers are beamed out and the reflected light is used to create aerial imagery of a landscape. The technology is particularly beneficial in areas such as the rainforests of Guatemala’s Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin, where lasers can penetrate the thick tree canopy.

The Maya settled in this region because it had the right mix of uplands for settlement and lowlands for agriculture. The uplands provided a source for limestone, their primary building material, and dry land to live on. The lowlands are mostly seasonal swamps or bajos, which provided space for wetland agriculture as well as organic-rich soil for use in terraced agriculture.

The significance of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin to the Maya

The lidar technology has been revolutionary for archaeology in this area, especially if it’s covered in tropical forest where visibility is limited. While surveying, they tend to see a small part of the causeway, but lidar lets them see things that are big and linear. This research lets us see the area for the first time, and the fact that we have this data is transformative. Researchers hope lidar technology will help them explore sections of Guatemala that have remained a mystery for centuries.

The Mirador Basin Project conducted two large-scale surveys of the southern portion of the basin in 2015, focusing on the ancient city of El Mirador. That project led to the mapping of 658 square miles of this section of the country. The lidar data showed for the first time an area that was integrated politically and economically, and never seen before in other places in the Western Hemisphere. We can now see the entire landscape of the Maya region in this section of Guatemala.

The study co-author Carlos Morales-Aguilar, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the University of Texas at Austin, said that when he generated the first bare-earth models of the ancient city of El Mirador, he was blown away. It was fascinating to observe for the first time the large number of reservoirs, monumental pyramids, terraces, residential areas, and small mounds.

In conclusion, lasers have revealed a massive, 650-square-mile Maya site hidden beneath the Guatemalan rainforest. The lidar data showed for the first time an area that was integrated politically and economically, and never seen before in other places in the Western Hemisphere. Researchers hope lidar technology will help them explore sections of Guatemala that have remained a mystery for centuries. The fact that we have this data is transformative for archaeology in this area. The lidar technology has been revolutionary, especially if it’s covered in tropical forest where visibility is limited.