https://www.livescience.com/lidar-maya-civilization-guatemala
'Geologists in northern Guatemala have discovered a massive Maya site that
stretches approximately 650 square miles (1,700 square kilometers) and dates to
the Middle and Late Preclassic period (roughly 1000 B.C. to 250 B.C.).
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.
Using data from the scans, the team identified more than 1,000 settlements
dotting the region, which were interconnected by 100 miles (160 kilometers) of
causeways that the Maya likely traversed on foot. They also detected the
remains of several large platforms and pyramids, along with canals and
reservoirs used for water collection, according to the study, which was
published Dec. 5 in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica (opens in new tab).
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," study co-author Carlos Morales-Aguilar (opens in new tab),
a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the
University of Texas at Austin, told Live Science in an email. "We can now see
the entire landscape of the Maya region" in this section of Guatemala, he
said.'
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/goodnews-child-mortality-flamingos-mumbai-shamans-dream/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
