Long-hidden ruins of vast network of Maya cities could recast history

[Judi Lynn]

The Washington Post

Story by Charlotte Lytton • 11h ago



Long-hidden ruins of vast network of Maya cities could recast history
© Andres Turcios and Mirciny Moliviatis/FARES

Beneath 1,350 square miles of dense jungle in northern Guatemala, scientists have discovered 417 cities that date back to circa 1,000 B.C. and that are connected by nearly 110 miles of “superhighways” — a network of what researchers called “the first freeway system in the world.”

Scientist say this extensive road-and-city network, along with sophisticated ceremonial complexes, hydraulic systems and agricultural infrastructure, suggests that the ancient Maya civilization, which stretched through what is now Central America, was far more advanced than previously thought.

Mapping the area since 2015 using lidar technology — an advanced type of radar that reveals things hidden by dense vegetation and the tree canopy — researchers have found what they say is evidence of a well-organized economic, political and social system operating some two millennia ago.

The discovery is sparking a rethinking of the accepted idea that the people of the mid- to late-Preclassic Maya civilization (1,000 B.C. to A.D. 250) would have been only hunter-gatherers, “roving bands of nomads, planting corn,” says Richard Hansen, the lead author of a study about the finding that was published in January and an affiliate research professor of archaeology at the University of Idaho.

More:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/long-hidden-ruins-of-vast-network-of-maya-cities-could-recast-history/ar-AA1brDLb

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(Highly irritating narrator's voice, grin and bear it, the images are excellent)

[JoeOtterbein]

1. K n R ! Thanks for posting!...

...cool stuff!

[Judi Lynn]

12. It's about time the European-descended culture realized the Americas are NOT the "New World"!

They were not just taking up space waiting for Europe to invade and bring civilization to the Western Hemisphere...

It's so good to see discoveries being made for the "white" society on an almost daily basis, now.

Thank you for your post.

[malaise]

2. Magnificent

Thanks

[Judi Lynn]

13. Thank you, malaise!

[2naSalit]

3. Cool!

So after reading 1491 and the proposals made in that book, going on taking another look at what is known and is being found of late, these newly located cities might be confirmation for some of that.

It was a very long read and required some stamina to keep up with many of the connections but it was very interesting and made sense that there were empires that extended throughout the western hemisphere and were very skilled in building and resource management.

[Judi Lynn]

11. I really love that author. It seems he has spent his entire adult life researching,

along with his sailing! I have wondered about attempting 1491. He doesn't write for the easily distracted reader, does he?

Thank you for your comments!

[Aussie105]

4. People assume the current situation represents the pinnacle of human cultural evolution.

But it is more complex than that.

Past cultures have achieved high levels of sophistication at their peak, then faded.

Just look at the Mayan example. And Egypt, China, Japan.

It's always something environmental that devolves past civilizations.

Ours? Global warming will be our downfall.

[speak easy]

6. "Faded" is one way of looking at it. Conquered is another.

Unlike the Mayans, there is no mystery of what happened to Egypt, Chiba, or Japan. Egypt was invaded and conquered first by the Persians, and then by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Swaths of China were annexed by Britain and France during the Opium Wars (1839 - 1860). A civil war in Japan brought isolationists to power in 1600, ushering in centuries of stagnation and decline.

As far as China goes, in 1820, prior to the Opium wars, the Chinese GDP per person was 18x that of the United States. After the Opium wars, trade concessions made by China snuffed out its early efforts to industrialize.

"It's always something environmental that devolves past civilizations." Not so.

[Hekate]

8. Diseases theretofore unknown to the region are a powerful force as well....

Somewhere in my library is a 1992 copy of Discover magazine with an unforgettable article by Jared Diamond called “The Arrow of Disease.”

[speak easy]

9. The wonders of the internet ...

The Arrow on disease is online -
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-arrow-of-disease

I am reading it now. Thank You!

[Hekate]

10. Thank you so much! I now have the article (plus ads!) stored in my e-library ...

….and look forward to re-reading it.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Absolutely! It's still happening in the Amazon in several countries as illegal miners, loggers, etc.

invade and destroy the forests and contact the formerly uncontacted people who've lived there forever. Of course, some of them do it more quickly than through disease, and simply kill them with weapons right away to get them out of the way.

Somehow the "news" got out long after about the First Americans being sold smallpox infested blankets. I think we are formally forbidden to tell anyone about that in some states already, recently! Shhhhhh!

Very well-chosen title. Thank you for mentioning the article.

[Judi Lynn]

14. I have no doubt your are right. I've seen photos of dust storms the world has suffered.

Some were able to overcome terrible farming, with time, but the greediest buggerers couldn't be bothered to turn back from completely destroying absolutely every living thing for something as empty as getting richer than lords themselves.

It would be tremendous if the greedy bustards could be cursed with eternal earthly life so they could be around to watch the planet become Mars, and generations flash by until they disappear altogether, and no one's left to suck up to them, or, as Donald Trump has said, "They all kissed my ass."

[speak easy]

19. nothing to say, aussie105?

[Beartracks]

5. "elma roddor"

LOL Glad you included the pronunciation guide. The narrator didn't even try to pronounce it correctly.

===========

[Judi Lynn]

15. He was unbearable! I can still hear his nasty voice hours later! Thank you, Beartracks.

[Hekate]

7. I just love this. Thanks.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Thank you!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. They were just waiting for Columbus to discover them.

Original story:

Long-hidden ruins of vast network of Maya cities could recast history

In Guatemala, scientists map well-organized network of 417 cities dating to circa 1,000 B.C.

By Charlotte Lytton
May 20, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT

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