Lidar surveys are revolutionizing archaeology: continuous urban sprawl now visible across Maya lowlands (2,144 sq km covered, 61,480+ structures mapped in single surveys), and geometric earthworks and circular structures have been found in Florida—including a city one mile off the coast matching Ponce de León's 1513 description. Raised highways connecting urban centers and hundreds of previously unknown structures have been revealed.
Lidar reveals vast lost civilizations across Americas; Amazon may hold greatest
Key facts
- Lidar surveys reveal continuous urban sprawl across the Maya lowlands
- In the US, Lidar discovered geometric earthworks and circular structures in Florida
- 50+ previously unmapped mound sites identified in Florida alone
- Sites found include causeways, highways, and concentric circular structures aligned to astronomical phenomena
- A city one mile off the Florida coast matches Ponce de León's description from 1513
- Amazon contains potential 'greatest civilization of the Americas' - Kinimaco site estimated at 1 million population (same as ancient Rome)
- The wear jaguar motif appears at South American sites including Chavín de Huántar, Moche, and Tiwanaku, suggesting Amazonian influence
Sources
The lowland Maya settlement landscape: Environmental LiDAR and ...sciencedirect.com
This paper presents the archaeological evaluation of 458 tiles of LiDAR collected by environmental scientists over southern Mexico
Laser Scans Reveal Maya "Megalopolis" Below Guatemalan Junglenationalgeographic.com
In addition to hundreds of previously unknown structures, the LiDAR images show raised highways connecting urban centers and quarries. Complex ...
Lasers Through Leaves: How LiDAR is uncovering lost cities of the ...thekidshouldseethis.com
... Maya population and urban sprawl. The 2016 PACUNAM survey alone mapped over 2,000 square kilometers [around 772 square miles] and identified ...
Ancient lowland Maya complexity as revealed by airborne laser ...science.org
Lidar (a type of airborne laser scanning) provides a powerful technique for three-dimensional mapping of topographic features.
LIDAR Survey Reveals New Information About the Maya Lowlandspages.vassar.edu
The survey, the largest ever done in the region, covered 2,144 square kilometers of land and uncovered a total of 61,480 ancient man-made ...
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