An ancient Mayan city buried for centuries in Mexico’s jungles was recently discovered by a Tulane University graduate student examining old land survey data. Luke Auld-Thomas, a Ph.D. student at Tulane, identified the city while analyzing publicly available, decade-old laser mapping data of the region.
Using LiDAR, a technology that employs laser pulses to penetrate dense forest canopy, Auld-Thomas uncovered the massive settlement, named “Valeriana,” hidden for centuries in the state of Campeche.
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The site spans an area one and a half times the size of Washington, D.C., with more than 6,600 structures, including pyramids resembling those at Chichén Itzá and Tikal. Archaeologists have hailed LiDAR as transformative, calling it “digital deforestation” because it allows them to explore sites beneath the jungle canopy without disturbing the natural landscape.
Researchers estimate that the city, which may have been home to as many as 50,000 people, likely collapsed between 800 and 1,000 A.D.
