Researchers shot billions of lasers into Mexico jungle — then found lost Mayan city
While flying over a remote stretch of jungle in Mexico, a small plane shot thousands of lasers per second into the foliage below.
When the beams reached the forest floor, they bounced back to the aircraft, providing — based on time elapsed — an exact distance between the plane and the ground.
After 12 hours of flying over the Yucatan Peninsula, researchers at the University of Houston compiled their measurements to create a three-dimensional map of the jungle, according to a July 17 university news release. The laser mapping technology is known as light detection and ranging, or lidar for short.
“Part of the thing with this part of (of Mexico) is that it’s under dense forest, and it’s really difficult to access,” Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz, a research assistant professor, told McClatchy News. “And that’s why lidar becomes very handy.”
Upon completion, their high-tech, 3-D map of the jungle revealed something strikingly low-tech: the ruins of a centuries-old Mayan city.
“When we see it on the computer we think, ‘Wow!’ We are seeing these things for the first time in 1,000 years,” Fernandez-Diaz said in the release. “It’s like time travel to see under the vegetation, to the roads, canals and ponds as they were that long ago.”
Multiple pyramid-like structures, measuring around 50 feet in height, and other “hidden gems,” such as a sports field, were also visible on the 3D map.
Ball courts are “a very common signature of Meso-American cultures,” Fernandez-Diaz said.
Upon making their discovery, researchers handed over their findings to archaeologists affiliated with Mexico’s National Institute for Anthropology and History (INAH).
Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Šprajc led the ground exploration of the city, which is believed to be around 1,000 years old. It was named Ocomtún, which means stone column in Mayan, according to a July 7 news release from INAH.
Šprajc found three plazas surrounded by large buildings along with pottery dating back more than 600 years, according to University of Houston researchers. Also discovered on stone structures were engravings, including one that depicted a tied-up captive.
The city would have once “served as an important center at the regional level,” Šprajc said, according to researchers.
Occupying parts of modern-day southern Mexico, in addition to neighboring countries, the Mayans were among the most advanced civilizations in the Americas, according to the Smithsonian Institution. They excelled at mathematics and astronomy and constructed large pyramid temples.
Other Mayan ruins have been located throughout the region using lidar, but Ocomtún stands in a league of its own.
“This is perhaps one of the first large, previously unknown Maya sites to be discovered with lidar,” Fernandez-Diaz said, adding, “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Google Translate was used to translate a news release from INAH.
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