Long-hidden ruins of vast network of Maya cities could recast history

Since 2015, researchers have mapped the ancient Maya site in northern Guatemala with lidar technology, an advanced type of radar that reveals things hidden by dense vegetation and the tree canopy. © Richard Hansen/FARES The La Danta pyramid in the El Mirador region in Guatemala. The research “sheds light on how the ancient Maya significantly modified their local environment, and it enhances our understanding of how social complexity arose,” one professor says. These findings in the El Mirador jungle region are a “game changer” in thinking about the history of the Americas, Hansen said. © Richard Hansen/FARES A view of the El Mirador jungle in northern Guatemala.