Researchers have spent the last eight years investigating part of northern Guatemala with lidar, and their findings are upending long-held understandings of Maya history. More than 400 cities sit under the region’s jungle, and they’re all connected by a network of highways thought to be the world’s first freeway system.
The project first started back in 2015. Archaeologists specializing in Maya history began using lidar—short for light detection and ranging—to “see” through Guatemala’s dense foliage. By pulsing millions of infrared waves off of the ground, the archaeologists mapped a 3D map of El Mirador, a large Maya settlement. The team separated this map into layers consisting largely of ceiba and sapodilla trees, each of which could be peeled back to show what was underneath. This revealed interconnected roads thought to be an ancient “superhighway.” Encouraged by their progress, the archaeologists pressed on.
Their patience rewarded them with a groundbreaking discovery: 417 cities rich with ceremonial grounds, agricultural frameworks, and even hydraulic systems, all tied together by 110 miles of superhighways. Not only are the connecting roads wider than a 10-lane modern highway (hence the “super” designation), but they’re raised off the ground, thanks to a mud, limestone, and quarry stone mixing technique believed to have played a role in building the pyramids. They’re also coated in a layer of white plaster, which researchers think may have helped the superhighways reflect moonlight for extra visibility at night. Though the Maya aren't believed to have used livestock or wheeled vehicles to get around, they are thought to have traveled these roads on foot.
“They’re the world’s first superhighway system that we have,” lead study author Richard Hansen told CNN. “What’s amazing about (the causeways) is that they unite all these cities together like a spiderweb … which forms one of the earliest and first state societies in the Western Hemisphere.”
The archaeologists’ findings are kicking loose the long-held notion that the Maya were simple hunter-gatherers or wanderers—an impression based on what few artifacts come out of traditional excavation methods. Instead, those who lived in the cities 1,800 to 3,100 years ago appear to have created their own sophisticated infrastructures, societies, economies, and political systems. The newly-discovered cities are now known to have held roughly 900 settlements. Among the most impressive structures are reservoirs, dams, pyramids, and even ball courts, furthering archaeologists’ growing understanding of ancient peoples’ tendency to create separate and distinct areas for work, sleep, and leisure.