A large-scale LiDAR survey in the Petén region of Guatemala has uncovered a vast landscape of Mayan agricultural terraces and irrigation canals hidden under dense jungle canopy. The findings reveal that the Maya had modified almost every acre of the landscape to maximize food production, supporting a population much larger than previously estimated.
The data shows a complex system of hilltop fortifications connected by elevated causeways (sacbeob), suggesting that the region was a highly organized and potentially militarized geopolitical zone during the Late Classic period. These discoveries are forcing historians to rethink the scale and environmental impact of Maya civilization.