I appreciate the efforts and tech used to map the area and create the graphics but I've been to Guatemala and I suspect that these scientists didn't "discover" near as much as they claim here.
Mayans still live there, and they know every nook and cranny and tree and rock in those forests. If you ask them, and then shut up and listen, they'll tell you all about it and answer any questions you might have.
I did ask one about what was hidden in the forests below us that I met on the top of a pyramid in Belize. He pointed out the locations of about a dozen pyramids in Guatemala that we could see in the distance and told me about the roads and platforms and other structures hidden in the forests around us. I was astounded with what I learned from that man. He was a Forest Ranger who grew up there. His family had been living in the area forever.
I also asked him what they thought about scientists from foreign countries who come there and then announce to the world they've "discovered" something. Suffice it to say this piece would probably irk him because it pretends none of them knew anything about most of what scientists claim to have "discovered". He also opined a bit on how their culture has been depicted as being violent and bloodthirsty and offered a much more tempered version.
But, it is nice to know that Guatemala funded the project and have the data. That part is cool as can be and I look forward to hearing more about what they learn from it.
Most professional archaeologists/anthropologists do ask the indigenous people and do listen. Sure there are always some people who are attention seekers, but the majority do good science and leverage indigenous knowledge. That said, you overestimate how much the people can know. They don’t have ground penetrating memory, and the Maya people have always been far from one united nation but closer to a collection of city-states with some shared cultural traits.
Furthermore, most of the classic Mayan sites were long ago abandoned so it isn’t like there are indigenous people hanging out around Ti’kal or Calak’mul that can just spill the entire history.
Any competent Mayanist would have told you the same as that person in Belize. It is no secret the landscape is dotted with unexcavated ruins, but the scope is unclear which is exactly why this research is so useful.
Similar thing in the lower parts of Mexico. As told to me by some locals on a stop while riding through the country on my motorcycle, there are plenty of locally known, overgrown ruins that are yet undeveloped as visitor sites simply due to lack of funds or renovation resources.
Mayans still live there, and they know every nook and cranny and tree and rock in those forests. If you ask them, and then shut up and listen, they'll tell you all about it and answer any questions you might have.
I did ask one about what was hidden in the forests below us that I met on the top of a pyramid in Belize. He pointed out the locations of about a dozen pyramids in Guatemala that we could see in the distance and told me about the roads and platforms and other structures hidden in the forests around us. I was astounded with what I learned from that man. He was a Forest Ranger who grew up there. His family had been living in the area forever.
I also asked him what they thought about scientists from foreign countries who come there and then announce to the world they've "discovered" something. Suffice it to say this piece would probably irk him because it pretends none of them knew anything about most of what scientists claim to have "discovered". He also opined a bit on how their culture has been depicted as being violent and bloodthirsty and offered a much more tempered version.
But, it is nice to know that Guatemala funded the project and have the data. That part is cool as can be and I look forward to hearing more about what they learn from it.