Why space archaeologists are finding more Mayan ruins than ever before (exclusive)

a forest surrounds a large pyramid and other buildings in an aerial view
The Mayan Chichén Itzá, an archaeological site in Mexico, as seen from the air. Thick forest around unexcavated Mayan ruins makes them difficult to spot, but improving satellite technology is filling in the gap. (Image credit: Sergi Reboredo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Satellites are helping scientists spot more ancient Mayan ruins than ever before, which is no small feat considering how thick the forest is in the indigenous group's ancestral lands.

"Archeologists have mapped more Mayan sites, buildings and features in the past 10 years than we had in the past — preceding — 150 years," Brett Houk, an archaeology professor at Texas Tech University, told attendees at a NASA-led space archaeology conference Sept. 18 to which Space.com received an exclusive invite.

Archaeologists are finding these ruins faster due to better satellite technology. Using a pulsed laser technique called lidar, or light detection and ranging, satellites can peer through the dense canopy surrounding typical Mayan sites, Houk explained at the two-day livestreamed NASA and Archaeology From Space symposium.

Related: How satellites could protect archaeology sites vulnerable to climate change

The Maya are indigenous peoples whose ancestral lands include modern-day Mexico, Guatemala and northern Belize, according to Britannica. Prior to the 16th century, when the Spanish invaded the area, the Maya were the dominant regional group. They created large pyramids and stone structures, managed agriculture and kept records using writing.

Mayan sites such as Chichén Itzá in Mexico are today marked as sites of significant world heritage by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. But there are many other Mayan zones that are unexcavated, and even unknown to modern society, given that heavy forest blanketed their buildings after the sites were abandoned.

Ikonos, an Earth observation satellite, captured this false-color view of Mayan sites in Guatemala in 2002. The sites are marked by "yellow" forest, which indicates a different spectrum of light given off by the tree cover than undisturbed "red" canopy. (Image credit: Image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory using imagery provided courtesy of Tom Sever and Burgess Howell, Marshall Space Flight Center, and GeoEye)

Houk alluded to "new lidar missions" — their names are currently embargoed as the team finishes peer-reviewed publications — that are helping his team, whose work is co-led by the University of Texas' Amy Thompson. The satellites are helping the scientists pick up more ruins across a swath of permitted territory in northeastern Belize.

The survey covers a region about 10 times the size of Manhattan: 250 square miles (650 square kilometers). It's rich in ruins. The team found 28 more monumental sites "in just a couple of days in the lab, staring at the data," as Houk says, and are planning to follow up on some of the areas with excavations. One planned for next summer will examine canal and water management in the region, for example.

Mayan temples are barely visible in the forest surrounding the Tikal National Park in Peten, Guatemala in a picture taken in July 2024. (Image credit: Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images)

Mayan society not only altered due to pressure from the Spanish, but also as a result of ongoing climate change, as far as numerous studies can determine. Human-induced global warming is one of the most pressing issues for societies worldwide today, leading to accelerating floods and extreme weather; examining Mayan technology may therefore help bring their ancient "lessons learned" to today.

"People and communities adapted to changing environmental conditions and rainfall, designing what appears to be a resilient mosaic of land use," said Tim Murtha, of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, speaking of his own team's independent space study of Mayan technology. Examples included corn-growing terraces, and catchments for conveying and storing water in drought conditions.

Small satellites provide more opportunities for examining Earth's surface, as they tend to fly closer to our planet; higher orbits require more fuel and money. Flyovers, or "revisits" as the industry terms it, are therefore more frequent with a diminutive cubesat than a larger satellite peering at Earth from a slightly higher altitude.

Other conference presenters paid tribute to companies such as Planet Labs, which have provided some Earth observations particularly valuable for archaeology. But the drawback is cost and access; scientists try to use open data or declassified satellite imagery where possible, as satellite companies also focus on turning a profit for their investors.

Artificial intelligence could play a role in spotting ruins in satellite pictures down the line, but training and getting access to the appropriate algorithms are also expensive difficulties, presenters said. They asked for more education and accessibility to benefit future archaeology investigations.

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

  • spacedo
    It's amazing the things this technology has discovered and it will continue to be amazing to see what comes off future discoveries. The Book of Mormon is an ancient record of the people who lived in Central and South America. Some put this book off as a work of fiction, yet it mentions great civilizations with 100's of thousands of people building advanced cities of construction and farming, well before any of these discoveries were ever made. Over the coming years it will be exciting to see how new discoveries align with the stories in this book.
    Reply
  • billslugg
    So far there is no scientific evidence of a civilization coming from the Middle East to Central America. National Geographic sent the Mormon's a letter. I'm going with them on this one, but I'm open to new evidence as I'm sure they are.

    https://mit.irr.org/file/national-geographic-society-statement-on-book-of-mormon
    Reply
  • COLGeek
    billslugg said:
    So far there is no scientific evidence of a civilization coming from the Middle East to Central America. National Geographic sent the Mormon's a letter. I'm going with them on this one, but I'm open to new evidence as I'm sure they are.

    https://mit.irr.org/file/national-geographic-society-statement-on-book-of-mormon
    I would also suspect that modern day genetics research would confirm this via DNA analysis (in relation to the NatGeo letter).

    For all, this will NOT become a religious debate. Just putting it out there. Thank you.
    Reply
  • billslugg
    The lack of Middle East DNA in Mesoamerican indigenous people has been mentioned.
    Reply
  • Classical Motion
    They are getting close of being able to do something a laser can not do. A laser has one frequency. Pretty soon with this array technology, we are going to be able to deliver a perfectly phase flux, not just frequency, but phase too.

    Not only much more precise measurements, but a real hammer. This will hurt. A weapon.

    Maybe even a bore hole.
    Reply
  • Unclear Engineer
    While I have never heard of any evidence of middle-eastern origin DNA in mesoAmerica, there is a lot of evidence that there have been several other contacts from outside the Americas, in addition to the traditional "Berring land bridge" theory.

    There is evidence of human habitation in the Americas as early as 35,000 years ago.

    There is DNA genetic evidence of south sea islander culture in South America and even evidence of South American culture affecting Easter Island.

    There is the "red paint people" culture that seemingly may have spanned from New Jersey around the northern rim of the Atlantic to Portugal, thousands of years before the Vikings reached North America.

    We lost a lot of the maritime archeology that occurred before the 325' sea level increase after the last peak of glaciation, about 25,000 years ago. Any seaside cultural artefacts were demolished as the surf along the coasts slowly advanced through the areas where people would have made fishing villages long ago. But, we do know from some burials that people were fishing for deep water species like swordfish maybe as much as 8,000 years ago in the northeastern part of North America. So, how people were able to travel around the globe thousands of years ago is just now beginning to be appreciated.

    Which gets us back to using DNA of current inhabitants to try to understand ancient population interactions. But, as we tend to mix our personal ancestries faster and faster with modern travel opportunities, DNA investigation is increasingly dependent on old burials.
    Reply