Tikal’s Jungle Temples
Advanced lidar scanning cut through Guatemala’s dense foliage in 2018, revealing that the Maya city was much larger and more militarized than previously understood. The scans mapped 61,000 structures across 2,100 square kilometers, showing causeways linking pyramids built 800 years ago. Evidence of raised agricultural fields and defensive ditches supports estimates of a regional population reaching 10 million people. The data shows warfare and commerce shaped this Classic Maya center as much as religion.
