Maya and the Cosmos: Ten Years of Archaeological Breakthroughs Fueled by Space Technology

Over the past decade, archaeological discoveries linked to the Mayan civilization have multiplied, thanks to the growing use of satellites equipped with Lidar. This laser technology makes it possible to pierce the dense vegetation cover which still conceals numerous structures on sites on the Yucatán Peninsula, in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.

Researchers from Texas Technological University, led by Brett Houk, and the University of North Carolina, led by Tim Murtha, have revealed forgotten monuments that had remained inaccessible for centuries. Their work, recently presented at a NASA conference on space archaeology, opens the way to a better understanding of the adaptation of Mayan societies to climate change, while asking crucial questions about the contemporary use of these technologies for larger-scale research.

A new era for archaeology: satellites at work

A new era is dawning for archeology thanks to the use of satellites equipped with advanced technologies. Until recently, archaeologists had to brave the dense jungle to reach unknown sites, often at the cost of months or even years of laborious expeditions. Today, this time seems to be over thanks to satellites used in missions like those piloted by NASA.

It thus becomes possible to explore entire areas, sometimes covering several hundred square kilometers, from space. Brett Houk, professor of archeology at Texas Technological University, underlines the magnitude of this progress at the two-day symposium organized by NASA and Archeology From Space, saying that more sites of the Mayan civilization have been discovered in the last ten years than in the previous 150 years. Comments reported in an article by Space.com, while waiting for the publication of the work of Houk and his teams.

Ikonos, an Earth observation satellite, captured this false-color view of Mayan sites in Guatemala in 2002. The sites are marked by a “yellow” forest, the canopy in “red.” © Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory via Tom Sever and Burgess Howell, Marshall Space Flight Center and GeoEye

Lidar, based on laser detection and ranging, is proving to be the central tool of this revolution. Lidar sends pulses of light towards the ground. By receiving them back, it creates a detailed map of the structures hidden under the vegetation. In areas where Mayan ruins have been covered by centuries of plant growth, this technique allows one to “see” beyond the dense canopy. It reveals pyramids, temples and other previously invisible buildings. For researchers, this advance is essential to understanding the true extent and complexity of Mayan civilization, long hidden under impenetrable forests.

Serial discoveries for the Mayan civilization

The use of Lidar technology has led to an impressive series of discoveries in northeastern Belize, revealing a vast number of previously unknown Mayan ruins. This region, covering approximately 650 km², was the scene of a particularly fruitful research campaign led by Brett Houk's team. In just a few days, 28 new archaeological sites were identified. Some of these structures still remain to be explored in depth. But these first discoveries already offer new perspectives on the way this civilization functioned. Particularly through its monumental infrastructures. The Mayans appear to have a more complex and extensive social and political organization than scientists previously assumed.

One of the most promising areas of research concerns the management of water resources. A crucial aspect in regions subject to drastic climatic fluctuations. The Mayan civilization was faced with periods of prolonged drought. Research on the Mayan civilization therefore highlights remarkable survival strategies in the face of climatic variations.

Agricultural terraces and reservoirs are particularly eloquent examples of this ingenuity. Terraces help minimize erosion and optimize irrigation. They made it possible to maintain soil fertility even during periods of irregular rains. As for the reservoirs, they provided a water reserve for the arid months. They thus guaranteed the survival of cultures and populations. But the decline of the Maya coincided with drastic climatic changes, worsened by the arrival of the Spaniards.

Tim Murtha of the University of North Carolina says these ancient solutions offer valuable lessons for confronting contemporary ecological crises. Mayan practices could thus inspire modern methods that are more sustainable and resilient in the face of current global warming.

The future of archeology thanks to artificial intelligence

The future of archeology could be marked by a synergy between Lidar detection technologies and artificial intelligence (AI). Certainly Lidar has already considerably improved the discovery and mapping of ruins. But it remains limited by the complexity and volume of the data to be processed. Manual analysis of this information, while accurate, requires significant time and human effort. This is where AI could revolutionize the field. By training algorithms that can sort and analyze this data more quickly, AI would enable scientists to detect buried archaeological sites with greater precision and efficiency.

Indeed, this processing speed would accelerate the discovery of still unknown structures. This will optimize excavation campaigns by targeting sites of interest more precisely. Additionally, AI can be trained to spot specific patterns in data. This improves the detection of small structures or altered geological formations, often invisible to the human eye. However, implementing such solutions requires considerable funding and advanced AI systems, which still remain expensive and inaccessible to research teams.

Although this technology is still in development, researchers hope it will become an indispensable tool for future explorations. With the aim of reducing costs and time required for mapping extinct civilizations, such as the Mayans.

However, it has already started to prove itself. Researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi are using artificial intelligence and satellite images to detect hidden archaeological sites in the Arabian Desert. They combine a machine learning algorithm with synthetic aperture radar (SAR). They identified new sites under the sand, notably around the Saruq Al-Hadid site. The hope of a revelation of unexplored archaeological treasures.