Mexico's lost cities: Maya of Mesoamerica

The rainforest (jungle) is full of cities we couldn’t see

Maya Temple of the Masks, Tikal, Guatemala

(Howtown) April 17, 2025: LiDAR scanning is transforming our understanding of the ancient Maya by revealing thousands of hidden structures beneath the rainforest canopy.

In areas like Tikal, Guatemala, and Caracol, Belize, laser data has uncovered extensive networks of American pyramids, roads, canals, and residential compounds, expanding estimates of Maya population and urban sprawl.

• Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
• Before Spanish, there was Nahuatl
• Maya Codex of Mexico

Maya Codex of Mexico

The 2016 PACUNAM survey alone mapped over 2,000 square kilometers and identified over 60,000 previously unknown structures.

While much of the region still remains unscanned, the new technology is already reshaping what counts as a “site” and how we interpret the scale of the massive Maya civilization of Mexico and neighboring countries.

CHAPTERS

• 0:00 - A game-changer
• 0:49 - Welcome to the Maya forest
• 3:45 - Tikal through time
• 7:00 - LiDAR on airplanes
• 11:44 - Minds blown
• 14:49 -Takeaways
• 16:10 - What's next?
• 17:18 - Secret message

This Howtown video explains how mapping methods have evolved over time, allowing archeologists to see and analyze ancient cities like Tikal, Guatemala. Even after a century of study, there remains so much to be uncovered by airborne LiDAR. It’s an incredible example of how advances in physics and engineering can supercharge other fields in ways that couldn’t have been anticipated.

SOURCES

• docs.google.com/document/d/1w...

Thanks to: @jaguarcilloviajero. Thanks to Storyblocks for sponsoring this video. Download unlimited stock media at one set price with Storyblocks: storyblocks.com/howtown. Howtown is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (sloan.org), in association with IMI (theimi.co). To support independent science journalism, join at patreon.com/Howtown.

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NOTE: Howtown used generative AI in this piece to add motion to public-domain illustrations. Register complaints at joss@howtown.co.

• Joss, Howtown, April 17, 2025; Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly