Researchers Find Ancient Mayan Megalopolis in Guatemalan Jungle
A new discovery has uncovered an ancient Mayan megalopolis previously buried under thick jungle in northern Guatemala. Using LiDAR technology to digitally remove the tree canopy, scientists uncovered thousands of ruins that belonged to the ancient civilization, proving it was much more advanced than previously thought.
In a recent report by National Geographic, a team of scientists used a technology called LiDAR to scan 800 square miles of jungle. LiDAR, an acronym for light detection and ranging, bounces lasers off physical surfaces and measures their return times in order to create a topographical 3-D survey.
This technology lets scientists remove certain features that may be obstructing their view from above, allowing them to see features that may have been covered by brush or were buried in the jungle. Some have compared this to the recent technology of augmented reality.
The team found roughly 60,000 houses and palaces, connected by elevated highways and an intricate infrastructure. Carefully planned irrigation and aqueducts were also found, proving that our preconceived notions of ancient Mayan technology had underestimated how advanced they truly were.
According to Marcello Canuto, an archeologist from Tulane University who worked on the project, “This was a civilization that was literally moving mountains.”
Canuto said this will change our perception of how major civilizations once formed. In the past, it was thought that the tropics were a place where ancient civilizations couldn’t flourish, but now he says he thinks they may have been the epicenter from which they spread.
The Mayan civilization was originally believed to be home to around 5 million citizens, covering an area roughly twice the size of medieval England. But this discovery shows that the civilization’s population was likely two or three times larger than previously imagined.
In videos posted by National Geographic, researcher Albert Lin can be seen trekking through the jungle, using an app on a tablet to see LiDAR imaging of ruins right in front of him that he otherwise would have walked past.
The team worked in conjunction with the PACUNAM foundation, a conservational group that works to restore and protect Mayan environmental and cultural heritages in Guatemala.
One of the finds that the team made was of a large pyramid in the center of the famous, ancient Mayan city of Tikal. Their discoveries have already revealed new characteristics about the civilization, such as its extensive defenses and barricades, implying the frequency of large-scale wars.
The team has only mapped about a tenth of what the LiDAR data has uncovered, leading them to believe it may take decades to fully examine all of their new discoveries. It seems we will learn much more about this ancient culture than we previously imagined, changing archeological paradigms of what was once believed to be a more primitive society.
Viracocha: The Great Creator God of the Incas
Considered the supreme creator god of the Incas, Viracocha (also known as Huiracocha, Wiraqocha, and Wiro Qocha), was revered as the patriarch god in pre-Inca Peru and Incan pantheism. His name was so sacred that it was rarely spoken aloud; instead replaced with others, including Ilya (light), Ticci (beginning) and Wiraqocha Pacayacaciq (instructor).
This reverence is similar to other religious traditions, including Judaism, in which God’s name is rarely uttered, and instead replaced with words such as Adonai, Hashem, or Yahweh. Viracocha is part of the rich multicultural and multireligious lineage and cosmology of creation myth gods, from Allah to Pangu, to Shiva. A brief sampling of creation myth texts reveal a similarity:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. Now the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:1)
“When heaven and Earth began, three deities came into being, The Spirit Master of the Center of Heaven, The August Wondrously Producing Spirit, and the Divine Wondrously Producing Ancestor. These three were invisible. The Earth was young then, and land floated like oil, and from it, reed shoots sprouted.” (Kojiki, the Japanese “Record of Ancient Things”)
“In the beginning, there was Chaos, the abyss. Out of it first emerged Gaia, the Earth, which is the foundation of all. Next came Tartaros, the depth in the Earth where condemned dead souls to go to their punishment, and Eros, the love that overwhelms bodies and minds, and Erebos, the darkness, and Nyx, the night. Erebos and Nyx made love and from their union came Aether, the air, and Hemera, the day.” (“Gaia,” Theogony)
These texts, as well as most creation myths (regardless of origin), are centered on the common idea of a powerful deity or deities creating what we understand to be life and all its many aspects. Legendary Viracocha, the God of Creation of ancient South American cultures, and a symbol of human’s capacity to create destroy, and rebuild, and is firmly rooted in creation mythology themes.