Vast ancient Mayan city is found in a Mexican jungle — by accident

A graduate student analyzing publicly available drone data in Mexico unexpectedly stumbled across a huge ancient Mayan city buried beneath dense jungle.

A graduate student analyzing publicly available drone data in Mexico unexpectedly stumbled across a huge ancient Mayan city buried beneath dense jungle.

For centuries, the city lay hidden amid jungle canopy in the state of Campeche, on the Gulf of Mexico. New research published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity reveals sites that in total cover area about one-and-a-half times the size of Washington, D.C.

Aerial lidar surveys reveal ancient settlements in the Campeche region of Mexico. Luke Auld-Thomas / Antiquity via Cambridge University PressResearchers uncovered the densely packed area containing 6,674 structures, including pyramids resembling those at Chichén Itzá in the Mexican state of Yucatan, and Tikal, an ancient citadel in the rainforests of northern Guatemala.

Luke Auld-Thomas, a Ph.D. candidate at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, "stumbled across the discovery" while browsing on the internet, according to Marcello Canuto, an anthropology professor at Tulane University.

The data, gathered by a research group studying land-use patterns, came to light using modern drone mapping technology known as LiDAR — light detection and ranging equipment.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ancient-mayan-city-found-mexico-jungle-campeche-rcna177762

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