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Pictures: Massive Maya City Revealed by Lasers

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Avenging Angel
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« on: May 22, 2010, 06:40:08 pm »

Pictures: Massive Maya City Revealed by Lasers


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Maya City in 3-D

Image courtesy University of Central Florida Caracol Archaeological Project

Airborne lasers have "stripped" away thick rain forests to reveal new images of an ancient Maya metropolis that's far bigger than anyone had thought.

An April 2009 flyover of the Maya city of Caracol used Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) equipment—which bounces laser beams off the ground—to help scientists construct a 3-D map of the settlement in western Belize. The survey revealed previously unknown buildings, roads, and other features in just four days, scientists announced earlier this month at the International Symposium on Archaeometry in Tampa, Florida. (Read about the rise and fall of the Maya in National Geographic magazine.)

University of Central Florida anthropologists Arlen and Diane Chase have spent decades hacking through the tangled undergrowth that has engulfed the powerful city—which thrived between A.D. 550 and 900. So far they've uncovered only a tiny fraction of the ruins.

"It's like literally removing all of the plant growth, so that we can see down below," Arlen Chase said.

The Chases direct the University of Central Florida Caracol Archaeological Project, a collaborative effort with the Belize Institute of Archaeology. NASA funded the 2009 LiDAR survey, which was carried out by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping.

—Brian Handwerk

Published May 20, 2010
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/photogalleries/100520-ancient-maya-city-belize-science-pictures/#ancient-maya-city-belize-lidar-overall_20702_600x450.jpg
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Avenging Angel
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« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2010, 06:42:19 pm »



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Maya Temple, Unmasked

Image courtesy University of Central Florida Caracol Archaeological Project

Among other features, the new LiDAR images captured Caracol's tallest buildings, a set of palaces and temples called Caana.

To reproduce the landscape in 3-D, a twin-engine plane flew over the city and fired laser beams through the dense tree canopy. The beams bounced off the ground, buildings, and other structures below. (See an interactive map of the Maya civilization.)

The laser's path from plane to ground and back again was then measured and triangulated with the aid of GPS equipment to create the data for the 3-D maps.

Published May 20, 2010
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Avenging Angel
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« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2010, 06:43:23 pm »



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"Sky Place" Ruin

Photograph by Dan Hallman, Getty Images

The Maya called the Caana temples and palaces the "sky place" (pictured, people sit atop the temple ruin in an undated photograph).

The LiDAR data allowed the University of Central Florida anthropologists to develop accurate 3-D representations of known structures, such as the Caana temples. (See pictures of the Maya civilization.)

But the project also revealed thousands of new structures, 11 new roads, tens of thousands of agricultural terraces, and even a number of hidden caves throughout a city, which is now known to stretch over 68 square miles (177 square kilometers).

"Caracol is what we call a low-density agricultural urban center, like Angkor Wat. It's a type of city in which the agriculture is literally part of the city itself, and the whole landscape is integrated into the city," Diane Chase said.

(See pictures of Angkor Wat's ancient enormity revealed by radar.)

Published May 20, 2010
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Avenging Angel
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« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2010, 06:44:11 pm »



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Forward-Thinking Farmers

Image courtesy University of Central Florida Caracol Archaeological Project

Four views of the ancient Maya city of Caracol show—clockwise from top left—a satellite picture, a LiDAR image of the tree canopy, a LiDAR image of agricultural terraces and causeways, and an archaeological map.

Caracol's extensive terrace and reservoir systems for holding water show that the Maya were practicing sustainable urban design centuries before it was fashionable.

Only a few such terraces had been mapped before the recent LiDAR survey, so scientists hadn't yet known just how crucial this form of agriculture was to life in the Maya metropolis. (Test your Maya IQ.)

Published May 20, 2010
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Avenging Angel
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« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2010, 06:45:56 pm »


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Terraced Landscape

Image courtesy University of Central Florida Caracol Archaeological Project

The Maya made several agricultural terraces (pictured above as wavy ripples) near Caracol's Ceiba Terminus area.

The LiDAR images also exposed clusters of buildings, industrial sites, markets, and plazas, as well as roadways that linked these areas. Some known ancient sites not previously thought to be part of Caracol are actually integrated with the massive city, the LiDAR data have revealed.

"The LiDAR is the most effective way for us to see how dense the population was, how dense the agricultural terracing was and its relationship to the housing, and just how much these ancient people modified the landscape," said team member Arlen Chase.

Published May 20, 2010
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