15-year-old William Gadoury from Quebec, Canada, has discovered the ruins of a long-lost ancient Mayan city using the combination of constellations and Google Earth.
William has been interested in the civilization for years and in his research, he found that there was a direct correlation between the stars and the location of the Mayan cities.
He analyzed 22 Mayan constellations and found that they had aligned their 117 cities with the positions of the stars.
He discovered one star didn’t appear to have a corresponding city and pinpointed where the city would be. William has named the yet-to-be explored city in the Yucatan jungle in Mexico “K’aak Chi” or ” Moth of Fire”.
The Mayans, who originated in the Yucatan around 2600 BC, rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize.
William’s discovery could be one of the five largest Mayan cities on record.
The next step for Gadoury will be seeing the city in person. He’s already presented his findings to two Mexican archaeologists, and has been promised that he’ll join expeditions to the area.