The long-lost site encompassed a web of nearly 1,000 urban settlements interconnected by 160km (100 miles) of causeways across an area of about 1,700 square km (650 square miles), according to the research published recently in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica.
Researchers, including those from Universidad de San Carlos in Guatemala, unveiled the site using a method that is increasingly being used in recent studies about lost civilisations hidden in dense tropical rain forests.
They carried out an aerial survey with Lidar technology in which laser light is bounced off surfaces to map them based on the time it takes the pulses to return to a receiver.
Lidar has been particularly useful in uncovering evidence of lost ancient settlements in the rainforests of Guatemala’s Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin by penetrating through the region’s thick tree canopy.
Source: www.independent.co.uk
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