
Forgotten Mayan city: Is it just an old cornfield? - benbreen
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/is-it-a-lost-mayan-city-is-it-a-hidden-gem-discovered-by-a-brilliant-boy-researcher-or-is-it-just-an-a7024141.html
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Triesault
How deep in the jungle was this supposed to be? Why would there be a old corn
field in the middle of the jungle?

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ryan_j_naughton
In Guatemala, corn fields are everywhere. For example, consider Tikal, it is
in the heart of the humid jungle yet used to be a Mayan city 1000 years ago
with a population of 100-200k people in the near vicinity (population density
estimates put it in the same category as LA county). They cleared vast swaths
of the jungle to cultivate corn.

Today you see a similar pattern among the poor, indigenous Guatemalans, though
on smaller scales. As I drive through the country, I'm always astounded at how
many corn fields are in the middle of a forest or on a seemingly inaccessible
hillside. The majority of these rural poor are still cultivating corn by hand
using techniques inherited from their ancestors. As corn was domesticated
there, they have found ways to cultivate it that are very different from the
industrial farms on flatland in Iowa.

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pbhjpbhj
Corn here being maize, not what we Brits call corn (a crop like wheat or
barley) presumably.

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apo
Critics say the area is a milpa. From Wikipedia:

>The word is also used for a small field, especially in Mexico or Central
America, that is cleared from the jungle, cropped for a few seasons, and then
abandoned for a fresh clearing.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milpa](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milpa)

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lancefisher
How expensive could it be to go look in person?

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sp332
It's in the middle of a huge forest. It would be very difficult to travel
there.

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elif
This is 114 miles from Ciudad del Carmen, out of which 4 helicopter charter
companies fly. Commercial helicopters have a range of up to around 330 miles.
All you'd need is about $2000 and a 100ft rope.

EDIT: Flores is even closer, at 72 miles.

~~~
ryan_j_naughton
You are imagining that you get under the canopy and magically a city in ruins
appears.

Instead, it is so entirely overgrown with a thousand years of vegetation, that
it is difficult to spot the difference between a hill and a temple.

I was in tikal recently (drove from Flores, as you pointed out), and it was
astounding to compare the parts they have excavated and restored to the rest.
You would see hundreds of small hills and know that under each is an
undiscovered building! Had it not been for the escavated parts, I wouldn't
have even realized the hills were anything else.

As a parallel, under parts of Guatemala city (far to the south in the
highlands) there are the remains of a Mayan city from pre-classical to early
classical. The center of which is under a high end shopping mall. There are
similar hills there covered in grass in a nice lark. I have laid on hills like
this throughout the city without really realizing there were ancient buildings
underneath.

Thus, there is a good rule in the capital. If there is a big, grassy hill, it
is probably because there are ruins underneath. The government prevents people
from developing that land, but no one has the money to excavate. Thus they
stay entombed, waiting for future grad students and funding.

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codingdave
Maybe getting into the canopy is not practical, but if the whole premise was
that it was spotted via a satellite photo, surely someone in a helicopter can
at least fly over and say confirm whether or not it is worth a closer look.

~~~
scrumper
Helicopter-mounted ground penetrating radar perhaps.

