How a PhD Student Found a Lost Mayan City Hundreds of Miles Away

The new Mayan a city, lost in the dense jungle of southern Mexico for centuries, has been found on a PhD student’s computer miles away. This is the story of how he did it.

The site, named Valeriana after a nearby fresh water lake, has all the features of an ancient Maya political capital: walled plazas, pyramids, a soccer field, a reservoir, and an architectural complex that suggests a foundation before 150 AD, according to the study. new published in the journal Age.

And how did Tulane University graduate student Luke Auld-Thomas find it? The answer lies in lasers. Until recently, archeology was limited to what the researcher could see on the ground and with his own eyes. However, light sensing and ranging technology, known as lidar, has revolutionized the field, allowing us to explore entire regions in search of archaeological sites hidden under thick vegetation or concrete.

Let’s go back in time. It is the year 1848 and the governor of Petén, Guatemala, Modesto Méndez, and Ambrosio Tut, an artist and writer of the time, rediscover Tikal, one of the most beautiful archaeological sites of the Mayan civilization. In the mid-19th century, little was known about this advanced culture—which counted the cycles of the moon, the sun, and Venus, and developed hieroglyphic writing and the concept of the number zero without tools.

The dense forest surrounding Tikal and its lack of roads made it very difficult to reach the remains. But the Guatemalan government went deep into the heart of the Petén forest anyway, looking for cultural heritage. Guided by local rumors, machete in hand, and tape measure and compass, they entered the Petén forest on an impossible mission. When they arrived at the Tikal area, Méndez and his team were surprised by what they saw: huge temples and towers, mostly covered in jungle. The most beautiful structures, hidden by nature, were high above the tree canopy. Tikal, although partially buried, retained its majesty and gave clues to the greatness of the city.

History repeated itself in 2024—but with an important variation. Rather than a machete, Auld-Thomas armed himself with a search engine. WIRED spoke to him this week along with Marcello Canuto, director of Tulane’s Middle American Research Institute, about the discovery.