This digital 3D image provided by Guatemala’s Mayan Heritage and Nature Foundation, PACUNAM, shows a depiction of the Mayan archaeological site at Tikal in Guatemala created using LiDAR aerial mapping technology. The discoveries, which included industrial-sized agricultural fields and irrigation canals, were announced Thursday by an alliance of US, European and Guatemalan archaeologists working with Guatemala’s Mayan Heritage and Nature Foundation. The study estimates that roughly 10 million people may have lived within the Maya Lowlands, meaning that kind of massive food production might have been needed. Researchers used a mapping technique called LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection And Ranging. The mapping detected about 60,000 individual structures, including four major Mayan ceremonial centres with plazas and pyramids.

Source: Mint February 03, 2018 08:37 UTC