1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: Rain Stuff. Lauren Vogel Bam here with another classic episode. 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Archaeology is the study of ancient things, but new technology 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: is making it safer and cooler for both researchers and 5 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: the sites they seek. In this episode, we talk about 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: how light detection and ranging technology or LDAR is changing 7 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: the game. Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, 8 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bam here. By using a 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: technology called lidar to peer through the dense tree canopy 10 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: of the Guatemalan jungle from above, researchers haven't covered a 11 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,840 Speaker 1: massive network of ancient Mayan ruins which have been hidden 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: for centuries. The discovery, first reported by National Geographic promises 13 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: to alter our understanding of the Maya civilization by revealing 14 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: that it was far bigger in scale and more advanced 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: and complex than previously believed. Researcher located the ruins of 16 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 1: more than sixty thousand houses, palaces, highways, and other man 17 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 1: made features. A press release by the University of Houston, 18 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: home of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping or ENCOM, 19 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: describes the find as sprawling over an area of eight 20 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: hundred and eleven square miles that's about square kilometers. To 21 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: appreciate the size of this Maya megalopolis, consider this, it 22 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: was one point seven times bigger than the modern day 23 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: city of Los Angeles, according to National Geographic The discovery 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: suggests that the Maya civilization, which peaked one thousand, two 25 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: hundred years ago, was highly sophisticated. CNN reported that the 26 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: findings include a pyramid ninety feet that's twenty seven meters tall, 27 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,639 Speaker 1: as well as evidence of agriculture, quarries and fortifications, plus 28 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: an extensive road system that connected settlements. According to CNN, 29 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: researchers believe that ten million people lived in the region, 30 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: many times more than previous estimates. We spoke via email 31 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: with Thomas Garrison, a Maya archaeologist and assistant professor at 32 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: Ithaca College who were with other researchers on the project. 33 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: He said these findings are important because the data lay 34 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: bare an entire civilization that has not been disrupted by 35 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: modern development. The work was done in conjunction with a 36 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: Guatemalan nonprofit that focuses upon aiding scientific and archaeological research 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: and efforts to preserve local cultural heritage. Garrison explains, we 38 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: don't just see the big sites. Instead, we're seeing all 39 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: of the infrastructure that made the Maya civilization function, how 40 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: they fed themselves, how they traveled, and how they defended themselves. 41 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,679 Speaker 1: From the density of the settlement, he said, we now 42 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: know that the ancient Maya were able to sustain a 43 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: population in this region that was substantially greater than what 44 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,399 Speaker 1: exists in the present, and they did so for over 45 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: a thousand years. Diane Davies, a British archaeologist and educator 46 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: who specializes in the Maya, says the discovery of the 47 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: extensive ruins could help challenge widely held assumptions about the 48 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: Maya culture, such as the belief that challenges of living 49 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: in the rainforest environment would have limited the population size. 50 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: She said via email. The Maya lived in this area 51 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 1: for over one thousand, five hundred years in the millions. 52 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: To live this long and at such high numbers suggests 53 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: that they were not only highly efficient in their agricultural systems, 54 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: but also environmentally aware. That is, they knew the limitations 55 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: of the environment and sought to protect it. The new 56 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: findings add to existing evidence of the Maya civilizations advanced 57 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: state such as their writing system, mathematics, and complex calendars. 58 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: The Maya, Davies said, had some of the largest temple 59 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: pyramids in the world, all built without metal tools, the wheel, 60 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: or pack animals. These are just a few of their 61 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: achievements and why people need to reevaluate the Maya. The 62 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: discovery also is another example of how light ARE, which 63 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: stands for light detection and ranging, is rapidly revolutionizing archaeology. 64 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: Instead of hacking through the jungle in search of ruins, 65 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: researchers can fly over it in an aircraft equipped with 66 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: a laser and other equipment. By firing hundreds of thousands 67 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: of laser pulses each second, they can collect data and 68 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: create a three dimensional map of the ground surface and 69 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: its features. LDAR was first developed by NASA in the 70 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: early nineteen seventies as a tool for space exploration. The 71 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one Apollo fifteen mission used an early LDAR 72 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: instrument to map the Moon's surface topography from orbit, and 73 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: scientists would also use it to study Mars and detail 74 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: the shape of an asteroid. But archaeologists figured out how 75 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: to adapt the technology to find ancient ruins in remote places. 76 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: In the early twenty teens, researchers utilized lidar to locate 77 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: Lasieu da Blanca, the white city in Honduras whose existence 78 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: had been the subject of rumor in legend since the 79 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: days of her Non Cortes. More recently, others used lidar 80 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: to scan the Cambodian jungle and uncover a fourteen hundred 81 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: year old city that would have rivaled nom Fen in 82 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: size and calm. Director Ramesh L. Shresta says that lidar 83 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: technology has become vastly more powerful since he began to 84 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: use it in the late nineteen nineties. In that time, 85 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: devices have gone from shooting three thousand pulses per second 86 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: to nine hundred thousand today. That was in much higher 87 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: resolution maps and has reduced the amount of time required 88 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: to cover an area such as the Maya site, essentially 89 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: making a project of this scale possible, according to shress Though, 90 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: though the Maya megalopolis may be dwarfed by even bigger 91 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: future ledar projects, he said researchers eventually want to map 92 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: areas that are nearly fifty eight hundred square miles that's 93 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: nearly fifteen kilometers in Guatemala and Mexico. Today's episode is 94 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: based on the article scientists use lidar to discover massive 95 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: lost Mayan city on how stuff works dot Com, written 96 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: by Patrick J. Kaiger. Brain Stuff is productive i Heart 97 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and 98 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my 99 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: heart Radio is at the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 100 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.