Recent May a city, lost for centuries in the dense jungle of southern Mexico, was discovered on the computer of a graduate student hundreds of miles away. This is the story of how he did it.
The settlement, named Valeriana after a nearby freshwater lagoon, has all the hallmarks of a classic Mayan political capital: enclosed plazas, pyramids, a ball court, a reservoir and an architectural layout suggesting a pre-150 AD foundation, according to a newly published test in the diary Archaic.
And how did Tulane University graduate Luke Auld-Thomas find it? The answer lies in lasers. Until recently, archeology was circumscribed to what a researcher could observe from the ground and with his eyes. But a light-based detection and ranging technology known as lidar has revolutionized the field, making it possible to scan entire regions for archaeological sites hidden beneath dense vegetation or concrete.
Let’s go back in time. The year is 1848 and the governor of Petén in Guatemala, Modesto Méndez, together with Ambrosio Tut, an artist and chronicler at the time, have rediscovered Tikal, one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world. Maya civilization. In the mid-19th century, little was known about this advanced culture that calculated lunar, solar and Venusian cycles and invented hieroglyphic writing and the concept of the number zero using almost no tools.
The dense rainforest surrounding Tikal and the lack of roads made reaching the remains extremely complex. But the Guatemalan government ventured deep into the heart of the Petén jungle anyway in search of its cultural heritage. Guided by local rumors, with a machete in hand, a tape measure and a compass, they entered the Petén jungle on a nearly impossible mission. Upon arrival at Tikal, Méndez and his team were amazed by what they saw: gigantic temples and pyramids, mostly covered in jungle. The most impressive structures, hidden by nature, towered over the treetops. Tikal, although partially buried, retained its majesty and gave clues to the city’s enormous size.
History repeated itself in 2024, but with some significant changes. Instead of a machete, Auld-Thomas armed himself with a search engine. WIRED spoke this week with him and Marcello Canuto, director of the Central American Research Institute at Tulane, about the discovery.