Student Accidentally Discovers Ancient Mayan City Hidden in Mexican Jungle
In an unexpected twist straight out of an adventure movie, a Ph.D. student in archaeology has stumbled upon an ancient Mayan city lost for centuries in the jungles of southeastern Mexico. Luke Auld-Thomas, while conducting research with a small team, made the remarkable find near Campeche, Mexico, where he uncovered the city now named Valeriana—a discovery that could redefine our understanding of ancient Mayan civilization.
The ancient city of Valeriana, named after a nearby lagoon, emerged during a survey when Auld-Thomas stumbled upon unusual topographical data. “I was on something like page 16 of Google search and found a laser survey done by a Mexican organization,” he shared, illustrating the surprising nature of his discovery. This data, generated using Lidar—a technology that employs laser pulses to map surfaces from the air—revealed large, intricate structures hidden beneath dense vegetation.
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