April 19th. 5 years to the day since I boarded a plane to Honduras to live in a rural farming community for 10 weeks (cliche I know) At the time I had very little clue what I wanted to do with my life besides vague plans to go into teaching. Which I would’ve hated. 10 weeks later I returned to the UK with 50,000 words of rambling prose and a slightly less vague plan for the future. Following the mantra of the great Carl Sagan ‘I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On My Way’ whilst dreaming of a career in history without having to babysit children. Now 5 years later I get paid to write and make videos about history! Coincidentally I’ve just released an hour long doc on Honduran history incorporating a bunch of photographs I took when I was there. Hope everyone is holding up alright in quarantine. It’s given me a chance to stop for once and take stock of how lucky I am I’m sleep deprived and a bit tipsy but feeling extremely grateful at the moment!
Wonderful. I went to Mayan city while in Belize.Half of the ruins were still buried and the site was not opened, but the man was there acting as security for the site allowed me to follow him. Oh, it was beautiful and I took pictures that I still have today.
The maya didn’t mysteriously disappear in the 9th century, that is a huge misconception, the maya were around for hundreds of years afterwards, and are still around today, around the 9th century the maya had a culture shift and migrated to the northern Yucatán, even cities mentioned in the video such as Chichen itza didn’t become as powerful until this migration occurred, after this migration, the pyramid of el Castillo was built, the maya lived in cities like these even when the Spanish arrived, and the maya were independent for longer than any other advanced pre Columbian civilization, they still had independent states for decades after Spanish Conquest began, the last maya kingdom remained until 1697 when the city of nojpeten was sieged by the Spanish
Every time I hear a presenter bringing up human sacrifice over and over, it is directly linked to Catholic and Spanish misinformation. The 20 days were all through the Americas, and are the jewel of scientific time keeping in the world today. They should be taught in elementary schools.
Having been to the Yucatán 5 times & visited several ruined cities over the years, I have no doubt that due to the density of the forest lands, the next 100yrs could be spent excavating that section of the country without uncovering everything...not to mention the countries to the south.
I have visited most of these sites 45 years ago and very few of them had been uncovered but a few great temples like Chichen itza and Teotihuacan. But now with new technology new settlements have been uncovered and restored by the locals with help from the Mexican government. Personally I would like to fully restore a complete settlement and stucco the full building to protect it from the acid rain so 800 years from now they would still tell the story of this great civilization.
Wow, so much has been discovered in the last 45 years since you had the chance to see those great sites. In the latest LIDAR scan in the Maya biosphere in the Peten region in Guatemala, absolutely stunning finds have come to light. I guess when you went to see Chichen Itza, El Mirador wasn't on anyone's radar, but now we know that 1,500 years before Chichen Itza, there were HUGE Maya cities way before it.
Good documentary, but recent excavations in The Mirador Basin, in Guatemala, have found these causeways (Sakbe) that are 800-1,000 years older than those in Coba. Maya archaelogy is on a turbo drive now with so much discoveries in the last 20 years.
I'm reminded of a question that, when asked What is the Deepest one can go into the Dense Forest? The answer is... Halfway. Then, you're on your way out.
When I was a small child, my father was hired by the Standard Fruit Company to assist in building a railway from the banana plantations to La Ceiba shipping port. We lived in La Ceiba from 1950 to 1953. My father enjoyed going out with the surveying crews to experience the jungle flora and fauna. He once told me that the crews often found ancient stone buildings overgrown with vegetation. They mapped the ruins and reported the finds to the local government, but were told the buildings weren't important, and they should just knock them down if they interfere with the railway. I cringe just thinking about it. Many archaeological sites were destroyed.
Our families might have known each other. My grandfather worked for Standard Fruit in La Ceiba, managing the dairy ranch called Miramar, from 1942 until the 80's. I wish I'd had the chance to know him.
@@TheTewjr They very well might have known each other. I was two years old when we arrived in Honduras, and we left when I was five. I have only vague memories of those years, and both of my parents and my siblings have passed, so I have nobody to ask. The only people I remember from that time is the nice couple who gave my kitty a home when we found out we couldn't take her back to the US with us. They lived on a farm outside of La Ceiba, and I believe their last name was Owens. Very kind people. Not sure what kind of farm it was.
@@TheTewjr This is so amazing.... I have a box of things that belonged to my parents, pictures and cards from Honduras. I found among the cards a Christmas card from "Helen and Verl Owen:". My heart soars!! I have snapshots of this card now, and would love to share. Are you on Facebook / Messenger? I'd really like to be able to have private conversation with you.
A lot is known! You have to go digging to find the good stuff though, a lot of notions about the Maya in pop culture aren't really great. If you're down to read academic articles and things though, there's a ton to learn :)
Imagine how much money could have been saved had we had this technology 25 years ago. I'd like to see new discoveries researched, analyzed and tested by 'hard science' people first and only after all their work was completed would archeologists/Egyptologists be allowed access to the work. Right now we have the opposite to the detriment of science...time for a change.
This road is very important. “All roads lead to Coba.” Can you compare and contrast the roads of ancient Roma and the Mayans in more detail? Once more detail is known?
@rudiger891 being rude to people that you do not know just because you are at a safe distance is not bravery, it is cowardice. I suggest that you think about that before you make the mistake of taking that behavior into close quarters with other humans.
Standing atop El Castillo pyramid of Chichen Itza in 1988 and looking across the vast expanded of forest, I kept thinking about what my tour guide said about the Mayan road system, how built up and wide they were and the miles of distance traveled gave me chills.
Well done Pete! Used to live down there and found the Hondurans were intelligent, self motivating workers. The technology reported in your video is astonishing, thank you for sharing that with us.
They had a writing system we've translated. that's the most important part. As much as I love learning about the history of the rest of the world; it usually doesn't surprise me by much but the Americas keep blowing me away with what we continue to uncover. Like giant mound sights that predate agriculture.
As a Geographer and GIS Specialist, LIDAR is both extremely interesting and yet extremely useful. Thank you very much for focusing on its use and impacts
I watched this intently and with a lot of interest since I live in this fantastic land. There are so many things that don't add up with what the archaeologists I know have published recently after many LIDAR surveys. It's also a little bit weird that an archaeologist specializing in this amazing culture cannot pronounce not even one of the names of the sites and cities correctly. Another thing that bothers me is, as has been mentioned before, the usage of Aztec objects and symbols that are unrelated to the Mayans. I don't know. Maybe a scientist that can connect with the locals (Mayans who speak what is left of the Mayan language) could embrace a more in-depth analysis of something as important as the Mayan civilization.
Whilst I do enjoy your docos, a way to enhance them further would be with animated graphics.eg. in this video, it would have been greatly improved by showing the circuitous nature of the road, by highlighted line(s), between the cities/regions. Just utilizing still graphics, taken from outside sources, leaves the viewer open to interpreting the data, possibly/probably inaccurately. But keep up the great work. I have found a number of excellent UA-cam sites, on history/alternative history, over the course of this pandemic; a subject I had no interest in, a decade ago. Sites like yours will only add to the fascination. Cheers.
This video gives the impression that the Mayans mysteriously disappeared, but there's currently 6 million of them living today, and they tend to not like censuses, so there's likely many more than that.
Pete Kelly In your video you told us that the Mayans did not possess the wheel yet, but I find that hard to believe if they made roads. Especially when you tell us they made their road surface really smooth. Is there any other theory as to why they built smooth roads, without having transports with wheels?
Thank you for your videos. LIDAR is such a great tool for uncovering all these cities and roads. I must say that quarantine in Playa del Carmen is great, as soon as you're not sick, I guess (neither public or private hospitals are at their full... Should I say yet?). Beaches, pools and explorations are obviously prohibited. So, probably mid June we'll go out. Stay safe.
So happy we got to see these ruins in person. The local guides are amazing. I want to go back but;;;;;;;spirit willing, body not so able. PS: howler monkeys are really LOUD!
Funny when the conquistadors arrived they thought they had came across savages, little did they know these people had more knowledge about universe then they could have imagined, sad 😥 to see the culture the religion and knowledge just gone
Genocide to gods chosen people same here in United stages “the americas” the the Indians research and knowledge is out there just pick up an old book a book the information hasn’t been removed or left out
The Spanish and the Christian priest's thought they whore shipped the "DIABLO" and burned all of ther text documents from the galaxy and land written down by the star gods . That was just to scary for the Spanish. The reason they sacrificed was to call back the "SPACE GOD" that leaft them to fend for them selves.Those cruel extraterrestrial Gods took all of the knowledge with them. I believe the Mayan people would be the most advanced in math today if those ETs would have taught that culture everything.
Im wondering as some reading I found said that when Europeans first saw areas of north america, they thought it looked like a utopian and unbelievably beautiful society lived there--they described I think it was some scenes similar to the hanging gardens of Babylon...Because of maze they were basically wealthy as a whole (not rich wealthy)---my point being that I feel those Conquerors had to lie & describe them this way to get the masses of future Europeans prejudiced so as to cobvince them they weren't of course "human". Probably the same with the Spanish--in fact the Native Americans thought the Europeans were more animal looking because they had beards etc & way more hair. But we know the rest....
Really interesting work; well done. I too am English and have been lucky enough to travel with the Navy through the South Pacific, best one was Calcutta which got me interested in archaeology.
I worked with a friend years ago that was from Mexico.we were talking about the book I was reading about the Aztecs and there gold. I said, " Too bad that they didn't have the gold today. Mexico would be a lot different." He looked at me for a second and sent a shiver down my spine saying with a grin, "And that was only the gold that they found! "
@Master Smith what he was talking about was the fact that they are still discovering citys hidden go centurys. And that there could be treasure vaults all over Mexico. And that the people would be a lot better off.
I remember before Lidar became a thing, I read a piece that estimated that the population of the Maya area at its height was as dense as that of preindustrial southeast Asia. There was no jungle left, it was all farmland and settled areas. It looks like that was a good estimate.
I certainly believe that many lost ancient cities around the world lie deep below the ocean, but surely the Maya are too recent of a civilization for any of their cities to be that deep.
They didn't just "simply" go back into the rainforests, they "disappeared" which some of us know where they went, but THEY just don't want us finding out or knowing the truth.
@@ulisinner why did you not say "Cannibalism" instead of anthropology? I am not here to LEARN NEW WORDS so stop pssing around. You claim is unfounded. However, for the people to leave the city they had built, maybe it was for another reason? Like, "who is gonna wash off all the blood stains?(no one volunteered) so they moved to lands that were more fertile to farm a decent crop. MAYBE?? Would make sense because that is what farmers do today. Once the land does not produce, it grows houses on it and the farmer moves away. Mayan's still exist.
In 2003 my wife and I spent 3 months in the Yucatan, hiking into the jungles to visit recently discovered sites. It was amazing, fascinating, wonderful... and they were just beginning the use of LIDAR mapping. Since then, in Southern Mexico, Central America, and down to the Amazon basin, hundreds of thousands of previously unknown structures are being mapped... but still not investigated on the ground. The little investigation done is already revealing agricultural and astronomical civilization back 10,000 years and probably soon back to 13,000 years or older. This is all turning the Siberian Bridge Hypothesis on it's cheek. Man has been in the Americas for a MUCH longer time that ever thought possible.
I lived aboard a sailboat for 15 years, it was a magical time, some of those were along the great MesoAmericanReef, antiquity folks got around a lot more than we know. The reef provides protected travel over 200 miles. The jade I found in Mexico may have come from Costa Rica, a nice mystery to ponder, he said smiling. I am grateful to have sailed when I did. When I asked when a 24yo kid should start a sailing voyage, a 50yo old salt said, 'Go now', otherwise you never will. He was soo right. As stated, it was a magical time.
You need to correct some images and restate the human sacrifice. These were mainly an Aztec practice and the Aztec calander also...overall an interesting video. Keep up the good work..
When will people realize that relatively advanced civilization existed prior to last ice age, cataclysms at the end of which whipped out most of human beings ... Sphinx is at least come from last ice age. Gobekli Tepe comes from Ice Age. Virtually 0 of Ice Age period areas now underwater are excavated
Your last line makes no sense... "Virtually 0 of Ice Age period areas now underwater are excavated". If they are "underwater" then they have not been excavated! Name one that has, and has also been radio-carbon dated, so as to establish the age there of.
I think there were advanced civilizations between each ice age or great flood . Then we pretty well get a reboot , take over ancient sites and try our best to replicate them. Sort of a giant game of snakes and ladders.😁
There are "Ice Ages" every 13,500 years. This entire paragraph is pretty lacking of specification that points to which Ice Age you refer to. There are +50,000 year old sites on North America recent archeology has discovered that would be from 4 "Ice Ages" ago.
@@mistermycology1411 _"There are "Ice Ages" every 13,500 years. This entire paragraph is pretty lacking of specification that points to which Ice Age you refer to. ..."_ Erm, as you give a vastly incorrect average date between Ice Ages; without saying if that major or minor glacial periods, or much more regular climatic snaps, which are closer together in average time to the number, which you pulled out of some orifice like the rest of your assumptions. I too am being assumptive, guessing this means that you are limited by your religion's sub-cult's/minor-sect's 'teachings' forces you to only to be able to think in a limited manner?
@@razor1uk610 the term "Ice Age" is a "vastly" loose term referring to a cooling period. The last "Ice Age" technically ended only a few hundred years ago, and was the result of a volcanic eruption. Also to cite religious beliefs as a contributing factor that limits my thinking is rather lazy and elementary. I guess you don't put as much effort into reading as you do into writing.
Very good video, congratulations. I suggest making a video about Izamal, which in fact was the biggest city in the northern lowlands, also with a causeway network and lots of seaports under its control.
Showing images of Inca artifacts is very misleading. The Maya and the Inca weren’t even in the same continent and most likely didn’t even know about each other. It’s like showing ancient Chinese artifacts when talking about ancient Rome. Also, the Maya calendar is different from the one shown in the video (Aztec).
Did you include the lidar scan of coba (if so could you leave time stap of when it was shown in the video)? I've been there twice and the city still leaves me breathless and wanting to see more of its power!
Pete if you would read the Book Of Mormon you would know where those Mayans went and how they learned all their knowledge and sofistication. Best regards 😉
How would one go about getting some real archeological surveys of the Rock Wall that is buried beneath Rockwall county , and beyond? I was involved in 2 shallow excavations (40-45' x 150linear feet) of a magnificent structure that had perfectly serpentine waves as it was uncovered. I've got photos to share, if needs be? Lidar would uncover so much more than we did with excavators and shovels
I hate to tell you this but Charles Lindbergh mapped a lot of the Mayan roads via an airplane. In the early 2000's as part of 2 summer internships/landscape architecture classes thru Texas Tech University, I used GPS and ground based survey equipment to map some of the amazing road system specifically concentrating from Coba to Chichen Itza to Uxmal. National Geographic scientists used lidar as early as 2000 in Mexico The Mayans were far more advanced than most civilizations in the World, rivaling the Egyptians and Romans. There is evidence that the Maya had trading outposts as far north of Texas. And there has been evidence and researchers for decades that say they did in fact have the wheel. And the Mayan people are still alive today despite their mighty civilization collapsing. When we did presentations both summers, we would have to translate from English into Mayan for the locals and Spanish for the Mexican officials.
Old news and not laser discovery but LIDAR. This was found at least five years ago but there was so much new information that they have been studying it - particularly the MX/GUAT border. A new Nat Geo series has been done on this with the LIDAR information used as its basis. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar news.artnet.com/art-world/technology-transforming-mayan-archaeology-1558456 The key point is that unlike radar, LiDAR (not laser tech) will actually show bare earth and image through the trees and dense leaf cover without problems or obscuration.
First sentence of your wiki link "Lidar (/ˈlaɪdɑːr/, called LIDAR, LiDAR, and LADAR) is a surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with LASER light"
Here is the latest news apparently the chinese built the pyramid of the world and in china they are over 400 pyramid..... get this these pyramid are not even excavated by the chinese and they wont do it, are you catching my drift? Doesnt this tell you something or they are trying to tell us who they are? If you look at Egyptian gods statue you will see that most of them are asian for some reason... slant eyes or rounded asian feature. Why nobody has seen this yet? or nobody reporting this? baffle me
@@allaboutgaming5671 because most people base their understanding on archeology, not "latest news" that you say isn't being reported and a generalisation of Chinese people as "slant eyes". The Chinese made all the effort of trooping over enough people to build pyramids for the Egyptians... but didn't record any of that activity... maybe it didn't happen?
Clearly, the ancient Mayans built their roads and pyramids when their landscape wasn't covered with rainforest. it takes 200-400 years to form 1 cm (0.39 inch) of soil. In wet tropical areas soil formation is faster, as it takes 200 yrs. By the time Cortes arrived to Mexico (in 1519), the Great Pyramid of Cholula was completely hidden beneath layers of dirt (like many other pyramids in L.America), making it look more like a natural mountain . We are talking here about at least half of meter of dirt (50 cm). Multiply 50 cm by 200 yrs. =10,000 years. And, this is just the topsoil and vegetation that formed over the pyramid. This corresponds to the end of the last Glacial Period (approx. 12,800 yrs. ago). Yet, this pyramid was dated to 300 BC . It makes no sense! And, this is just one example . The archaeologists dated all the pyramids in L. America to no more than 900 B.C.E. What a joke ! The Gobekli Tepe in Turkey was dated to approx 9600-8000 BC, and it already proved all archeologists and historians wrong. Our civilization didn't start 3000 BC, as they initially told us.
Yeah, so, I was recently digging a new garden bed, and I would regularly find plastic detritus at depths of ~30 cm. This either means that my mesolithic seal hunter ancestors invented plastic sandals, or, dating things maybe requires a couple more datapoints than just assuming 200 years per cm universally holds true.
@Joel - It's quite ignorant of you to compare the macro or mega-plastics accumulation in your garden beds to the science of Pedelogy (the science of soil formation). Clearly, you never heard that agricultural land has become a major sink for all kinds of plastic, especially in the last couple of decades ( this due to speedy process of plastic fragmentation and soil being influenced by anthropogenic activities ). Moreover, many anthropogenic impacts on natural systems have caused many drastic changes on the surface of the planet. This is a whole different topic and has nothing to do with the natural soil and rainforest formation on top of the ancient pyramids in L. America. If you are an archaeologist, then you are quaite lousy one when ignorant of the aforementioned facts.
The reasons why I believe they built the roads were for trade as well later on to invade. That's what they would say to the other cities, to get them to help them. But having roads for your armies sure it helps you, but it helps your enemies get to you when your weak as well
great doc man, just want to say...they didnt pack up anything....the deforested the jungle to grow corn, changed weather patterns and perished mostly....ironic how the plant that built the civilization ultimately destroyed it. yin/yan
Ever wondered why and how the carvings in the stone are so amazingly good !? Where did they develope that skill and art to hand work stone like that. Also It's similar to other carved stone in other parts of the world. Did these people have common ancestry ...?
It's fascinating how new technology and new discoveries and filling in our understanding of history in ways we could not have imagined. DNA testing allows us to know where different cultures of the ancient world travelled and where they ended up. Eventually, we may be able to find every lost site like Göbekli Tepe using ground penetration radar from space. The way we can date and understand and link things due to the accessibility of the internet. It's pretty amazing. I think it is very important to get every Egyptian tablet and every manuscript online. Perhaps computers will eventually be able to find links between cultures we cannot see.
Who was capable to be present or influence the entire world if it not the chinese? they are over 400 pyramid in china than the rest of the world, The british government knew it and US too which explain their hostility toward them. I guess history is repeating again.
I love reading the comments it always gives me a laugh. I studied accent civilizations for several years. It always amazes me that there are similarities in architecture around the world. Some of these building predate the pyramids. I like what I leard two years ago about the Spanish. They asked who built this city. They were told it was built by the gods. It was already there and they moved in. I do not remember the city but it got me thinking. What if all the cities were already there? What if we got it wrong and life started in South America then moved out from there? Civilization would have thrived there before the northern ice caps melted. More investigations in this area is required. I hear alot of information about the lost culture but not much in curent research. There is still much to learn. The worst of it all is the myths the European peoples wrote about these cultures. I want the truth!
You must live in Blossom TX but you are right. Every thing we build won't last a couple of decades we've lost a lot of technology and we call them primitive
April 19th. 5 years to the day since I boarded a plane to Honduras to live in a rural farming community for 10 weeks (cliche I know)
At the time I had very little clue what I wanted to do with my life besides vague plans to go into teaching. Which I would’ve hated.
10 weeks later I returned to the UK with 50,000 words of rambling prose and a slightly less vague plan for the future. Following the mantra of the great Carl Sagan ‘I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On My Way’ whilst dreaming of a career in history without having to babysit children.
Now 5 years later I get paid to write and make videos about history! Coincidentally I’ve just released an hour long doc on Honduran history incorporating a bunch of photographs I took when I was there.
Hope everyone is holding up alright in quarantine. It’s given me a chance to stop for once and take stock of how lucky I am
I’m sleep deprived and a bit tipsy but feeling extremely grateful at the moment!
Wow!
I chose the road that led to teaching, so I know what you mean. I really envy you mate, that’s for sure, but I’m also very happy for you!
Today....what would it be like with electricity...and running water with the population......very uniquic..wow...
Keep it up mate! Your content is phenomenal, cheers!
Thank you for such an interesting update on Maya archaeology. Much appreciated.
Wonderful. I went to Mayan city while in Belize.Half of the ruins were still buried and the site was not opened, but the man was there acting as security for the site allowed me to follow him. Oh, it was beautiful and I took pictures that I still have today.
HOW MUCH YOU PAID THEM ?
The Mayans built roads that have lasted for over a thousand of years. Meanwhile my state can't build a single road without potholes on them.
Yeah but there was never a society as advanced as us hahaha
Their roads didn't have hundreds of thousands of wheeled vehicles going over them every year.
@@Arkantos117 potholes are usually the result of erosion from rain. So it's not really the cars fault its just sub par asphalt.
Those Mayan Semi trucks weren’t as heavy back then.
Roman roads are still in existence today🤷 at least 2000 years old
The maya didn’t mysteriously disappear in the 9th century, that is a huge misconception, the maya were around for hundreds of years afterwards, and are still around today, around the 9th century the maya had a culture shift and migrated to the northern Yucatán, even cities mentioned in the video such as Chichen itza didn’t become as powerful until this migration occurred, after this migration, the pyramid of el Castillo was built, the maya lived in cities like these even when the Spanish arrived, and the maya were independent for longer than any other advanced pre Columbian civilization, they still had independent states for decades after Spanish Conquest began, the last maya kingdom remained until 1697 when the city of nojpeten was sieged by the Spanish
you wish
Anomnomys what do you mean you wish? Everything I said is historically correct lol
YaboiJ: THANK YOU ! Your revelation was MORE informative than the whole video !
Every time I hear a presenter bringing up human sacrifice over and over, it is directly linked to Catholic and Spanish misinformation.
The 20 days were all through the Americas, and are the jewel of scientific time keeping in the world today. They should be taught in elementary schools.
Its all hearsay unless you lived in that time 🙏
in case you came here for "Mayan Road Network" just like me, start from 10:43. Do not thank me.
But thank you
...thanks
Thank you
Thanks lol
I insist sir. Thank you.
Having been to the Yucatán 5 times & visited several ruined cities over the years, I have no doubt that due to the density of the forest lands, the next 100yrs could be spent excavating that section of the country without uncovering everything...not to mention the countries to the south.
I have visited most of these sites 45 years ago and very few of them had been uncovered but a few great temples like Chichen itza and Teotihuacan. But now with new technology new settlements have been uncovered and restored by the locals with help from the Mexican government. Personally I would like to fully restore a complete settlement and stucco the full building to protect it from the acid rain so 800 years from now they would still tell the story of this great civilization.
Wow, so much has been discovered in the last 45 years since you had the chance to see those great sites. In the latest LIDAR scan in the Maya biosphere in the Peten region in Guatemala, absolutely stunning finds have come to light. I guess when you went to see Chichen Itza, El Mirador wasn't on anyone's radar, but now we know that 1,500 years before Chichen Itza, there were HUGE Maya cities way before it.
Good documentary, but recent excavations in The Mirador Basin, in Guatemala, have found these causeways (Sakbe) that are 800-1,000 years older than those in Coba. Maya archaelogy is on a turbo drive now with so much discoveries in the last 20 years.
1:23 ? The Maya rarely used metal. They prized green stone like jadeite and green obsidian.
There were many indigenous groups. Many used Gold and silver. The Maya traditionally didn't. It's just not that abundant in the Yucatan. Period.
Thank you for this. I have long been a student of the Mayan and Inca culture(s). Incredible film and new knowledge.
@Stephen Hurd Strange thing to say Stephen.
I'm reminded of a question that, when asked What is the Deepest one can go into the Dense Forest?
The answer is...
Halfway.
Then, you're on your way out.
When I was a small child, my father was hired by the Standard Fruit Company to assist in building a railway from the banana plantations to La Ceiba shipping port. We lived in La Ceiba from 1950 to 1953. My father enjoyed going out with the surveying crews to experience the jungle flora and fauna. He once told me that the crews often found ancient stone buildings overgrown with vegetation. They mapped the ruins and reported the finds to the local government, but were told the buildings weren't important, and they should just knock them down if they interfere with the railway. I cringe just thinking about it. Many archaeological sites were destroyed.
Our families might have known each other. My grandfather worked for Standard Fruit in La Ceiba, managing the dairy ranch called Miramar, from 1942 until the 80's. I wish I'd had the chance to know him.
@@TheTewjr They very well might have known each other. I was two years old when we arrived in Honduras, and we left when I was five. I have only vague memories of those years, and both of my parents and my siblings have passed, so I have nobody to ask. The only people I remember from that time is the nice couple who gave my kitty a home when we found out we couldn't take her back to the US with us. They lived on a farm outside of La Ceiba, and I believe their last name was Owens. Very kind people. Not sure what kind of farm it was.
@@colleenbendan3034 This is indeed a small world. My grandfather's name was Verl Owen. :-)
If your mother was a nurse, then my aunt remembers your family. The cat was named Cleopatra.
@@TheTewjr This is so amazing.... I have a box of things that belonged to my parents, pictures and cards from Honduras. I found among the cards a Christmas card from "Helen and Verl Owen:". My heart soars!! I have snapshots of this card now, and would love to share. Are you on Facebook / Messenger? I'd really like to be able to have private conversation with you.
I did an ancestry DNA test last year and it showed I was 54% Mayan (Guatemala). I wish we know more about these people.
A lot is known! You have to go digging to find the good stuff though, a lot of notions about the Maya in pop culture aren't really great. If you're down to read academic articles and things though, there's a ton to learn :)
@Stephen Hurd Well the Anglo Saxons were Germanic.
I see ancient ruins from a lost civilization. I click.
I can't help but feel that 'breaking news' in the world of archaeology is similar to the sprint of a snail! :D
The perfect analogy!
Imagine how much money could have been saved had we had this technology 25 years ago.
I'd like to see new discoveries researched, analyzed and tested by 'hard science' people first and only after all their work was completed would archeologists/Egyptologists be allowed access to the work. Right now we have the opposite to the detriment of science...time for a change.
Last couple years seemed to be pretty eventful though!
Breaking news is a divulgation term, none archeologist would use it.
This kind of discoveries are the pieces of the puzzle.
@@christopher4098586 You find your self alone at most parties?
This road is very important. “All roads lead to Coba.” Can you compare and contrast the roads of ancient Roma and the Mayans in more detail? Once more detail is known?
@rudiger891 being rude to people that you do not know just because you are at a safe distance is not bravery, it is cowardice. I suggest that you think about that before you make the mistake of taking that behavior into close quarters with other humans.
Well done. Interesting without being sensationalistic. Really good info.
Standing atop El Castillo pyramid of Chichen Itza in 1988 and looking across the vast expanded of forest, I kept thinking about what my tour guide said about the Mayan road system, how built up and wide they were and the miles of distance traveled gave me chills.
More informative than most studies of ancient civilization channels that I have seen. Keep up the good work
Well done Pete! Used to live down there and found the Hondurans were intelligent, self motivating workers. The technology reported in your video is astonishing, thank you for sharing that with us.
They had a writing system we've translated. that's the most important part. As much as I love learning about the history of the rest of the world; it usually doesn't surprise me by much but the Americas keep blowing me away with what we continue to uncover. Like giant mound sights that predate agriculture.
As a Geographer and GIS Specialist, LIDAR is both extremely interesting and yet extremely useful. Thank you very much for focusing on its use and impacts
Wonderful experience in trying to understand the Maya Aztec and the Incas of the America’s ! Thanks to the mesmerising voice of the speaker.
I watched this intently and with a lot of interest since I live in this fantastic land. There are so many things that don't add up with what the archaeologists I know have published recently after many LIDAR surveys. It's also a little bit weird that an archaeologist specializing in this amazing culture cannot pronounce not even one of the names of the sites and cities correctly. Another thing that bothers me is, as has been mentioned before, the usage of Aztec objects and symbols that are unrelated to the Mayans. I don't know. Maybe a scientist that can connect with the locals (Mayans who speak what is left of the Mayan language) could embrace a more in-depth analysis of something as important as the Mayan civilization.
Carlos Martinez sorry family they will never do that, they pay billions to change the narrative, you think they want the real story out lol
Carlos read the book of Mormon and you will have all those questions answered. Best Regards
Cat Johnson 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Which version? The one that said native Americans are descendants of Jewish migrants, or the version that backpedaled on that "revelation from God?"
Maya* not Mayans.
Always a great pleasure to listen to your clear comment as passionate of History
Whilst I do enjoy your docos, a way to enhance them further would be with animated graphics.eg. in this video, it would have been greatly improved by showing the circuitous nature of the road, by highlighted line(s), between the cities/regions. Just utilizing still graphics, taken from outside sources, leaves the viewer open to interpreting the data, possibly/probably inaccurately. But keep up the great work.
I have found a number of excellent UA-cam sites, on history/alternative history, over the course of this pandemic; a subject I had no interest in, a decade ago. Sites like yours will only add to the fascination. Cheers.
Santoa Bonacci explains astrology better than anyone else and he prooves it so efficiently
Loved it!!! Can’t wait to see what we will learn from these new views of our history!!!
Awesome work! Thank you for your time and effort!
The enigmatic Queen of Coba and her Empire is as impressive as her legend suggests.
This video gives the impression that the Mayans mysteriously disappeared, but there's currently 6 million of them living today, and they tend to not like censuses, so there's likely many more than that.
Pete Kelly In your video you told us that the Mayans did not possess the wheel yet, but I find that hard to believe if they made roads. Especially when you tell us they made their road surface really smooth. Is there any other theory as to why they built smooth roads, without having transports with wheels?
They had the wheel on children's toys, never heard of wheeled transport; maybe, with this technology that mystery will be solved.
Thankyou Pete. I recently heard of LIDAR and here is a great example of it's use. Great job.
Excellent Video, thanks for uploading 👍
Thank you for your videos. LIDAR is such a great tool for uncovering all these cities and roads.
I must say that quarantine in Playa del Carmen is great, as soon as you're not sick, I guess (neither public or private hospitals are at their full... Should I say yet?). Beaches, pools and explorations are obviously prohibited. So, probably mid June we'll go out. Stay safe.
So happy we got to see these ruins in person. The local guides are amazing. I want to go back but;;;;;;;spirit willing, body not so able. PS: howler monkeys are really LOUD!
Glad to have found this professional channel!
Pete Kelley, what a spectacular information ! Simply amazing. .!
Edificio Coltejer and the lovely city of Medellín (8:32) was a surprise and delight to see here. Thanks!
Funny when the conquistadors arrived they thought they had came across savages, little did they know these people had more knowledge about universe then they could have imagined, sad 😥 to see the culture the religion and knowledge just gone
THE INVADORS THEY CAME TO KILLED, RAPED AND STEAL PEOPLES LAND . NO SUCH THING AS CONQUER
Genocide to gods chosen people same here in United stages “the americas” the the Indians research and knowledge is out there just pick up an old book a book the information hasn’t been removed or left out
The Spanish and the Christian priest's thought they whore shipped the "DIABLO" and burned all of ther text documents from the galaxy and land written down by the star gods . That was just to scary for the Spanish. The reason they sacrificed was to call back the "SPACE GOD" that leaft them to fend for them selves.Those cruel extraterrestrial Gods took all of the knowledge with them. I believe the Mayan people would be the most advanced in math today if those ETs would have taught that culture everything.
Im wondering as some reading I found said that when Europeans first saw areas of north america, they thought it looked like a utopian and unbelievably beautiful society lived there--they described I think it was some scenes similar to the hanging gardens of Babylon...Because of maze they were basically wealthy as a whole (not rich wealthy)---my point being that I feel those Conquerors had to lie & describe them this way to get the masses of future Europeans prejudiced so as to cobvince them they weren't of course "human". Probably the same with the Spanish--in fact the Native Americans thought the Europeans were more animal looking because they had beards etc & way more hair. But we know the rest....
Aint no way they really built the pyramid mfs was savages
You put together some really interesting videos about some of my favorite topics. Excellent editing too.
Really interesting work; well done. I too am English and have been lucky enough to travel with the Navy through the South Pacific, best one was Calcutta which got me interested in archaeology.
I worked with a friend years ago that was from Mexico.we were talking about the book I was reading about the Aztecs and there gold. I said, " Too bad that they didn't have the gold today. Mexico would be a lot different." He looked at me for a second and sent a shiver down my spine saying with a grin, "And that was only the gold that they found! "
@Master Smith what he was talking about was the fact that they are still discovering citys hidden go centurys. And that there could be treasure vaults all over Mexico. And that the people would be a lot better off.
thank you Joe ~ nice writing and acting
I wish they would start scanning the ocean floors.
They are.
@@DoggieNYC hopefully they find a huge alien face
Im sure they have already
They have found a few things, all in the it may be something but probably natural category.
10 points for presentation and Narration 👏👏👏👍
Sadly no x-wings were found with this new technology, the rebels are still out there Lord Vader.
Great videos to learn with, thank you sir!
I remember before Lidar became a thing, I read a piece that estimated that the population of the Maya area at its height was as dense as that of preindustrial southeast Asia. There was no jungle left, it was all farmland and settled areas. It looks like that was a good estimate.
Excellent !
Super Amazing Pete!!!
Where is the road on the map? All this talk but no showed on the map? You are showing maps.. this makes no sense!!
They are using Lie-dar, so they be lying to you, don'tchaknow?
Pete, I love your work! Keep it up 👍
You'll find those missing cities off the coast under about 200 to 300 ft of water.
Good point.
To the post: Archaeologists seems to be on the verge of a sea change in the study of Middle American civilizations.
ras222 That’s incredible
I certainly believe that many lost ancient cities around the world lie deep below the ocean, but surely the Maya are too recent of a civilization for any of their cities to be that deep.
They are not missing. The pumps failed to keep working because of an extended Union strike for wages...and everyone phoned in sick.
Thank you for what you do. I enjoy your work so much. Love
They didn't just "simply" go back into the rainforests, they "disappeared" which some of us know where they went, but THEY just don't want us finding out or knowing the truth.
Where did they go? Xibalba?
The went to the Inner Earth.
They died off from starvation and brutal drought periods. They practiced antropophagy during the hardest droughts.
They are still around...their kingdom isn't, but the Mayans are still around. They're part of the many native people living in Latin America.
@@ulisinner why did you not say "Cannibalism" instead of anthropology? I am not here to LEARN NEW WORDS so stop pssing around. You claim is unfounded. However, for the people to leave the city they had built, maybe it was for another reason? Like, "who is gonna wash off all the blood stains?(no one volunteered) so they moved to lands that were more fertile to farm a decent crop. MAYBE?? Would make sense because that is what farmers do today. Once the land does not produce, it grows houses on it and the farmer moves away. Mayan's still exist.
Keep waiting for: "6g technology uncovered in mayan temple, sacrifice altar turns out to be netcafe front desk"
matty101yttam smoking mirror”
great video greetings from mexico!!!
Fantastic Stuff !!!!
In 2003 my wife and I spent 3 months in the Yucatan, hiking into the jungles to visit recently discovered sites. It was amazing, fascinating, wonderful... and they were just beginning the use of LIDAR mapping. Since then, in Southern Mexico, Central America, and down to the Amazon basin, hundreds of thousands of previously unknown structures are being mapped... but still not investigated on the ground. The little investigation done is already revealing agricultural and astronomical civilization back 10,000 years and probably soon back to 13,000 years or older. This is all turning the Siberian Bridge Hypothesis on it's cheek. Man has been in the Americas for a MUCH longer time that ever thought possible.
I lived aboard a sailboat for 15 years, it was a magical time, some of those were along the great MesoAmericanReef, antiquity folks got around a lot more than we know. The reef provides protected travel over 200 miles. The jade I found in Mexico may have come from Costa Rica, a nice mystery to ponder, he said smiling. I am grateful to have sailed when I did. When I asked when a 24yo kid should start a sailing voyage, a 50yo old salt said, 'Go now', otherwise you never will. He was soo right. As stated, it was a magical time.
You need to correct some images and restate the human sacrifice. These were mainly an Aztec practice and the Aztec calander also...overall an interesting video. Keep up the good work..
Great video! Thanks.
Paul i love you videos! Keep up the amazing work!
Epic narration.
1:24 This is a Tumi knife from Peru, belonging to the Inca civilization in the Andes mountains not the Maya civilization in the Yucatan rainforest. =)
Thank you 👍
Great Video!!!!
Great story!
Almost everything you say could easily point to the fate of our present day civilization. What a dire prophecy.
A form of corona virus ended all the people maybe???
@Deshone Robinson No. These people still exist, they just abandoned the cities. And they are NOT BLACK. Give me a break!
Great video!!
How come when you see a map, you never see the road on the map?
When will people realize that relatively advanced civilization existed prior to last ice age, cataclysms at the end of which whipped out most of human beings ...
Sphinx is at least come from last ice age. Gobekli Tepe comes from Ice Age.
Virtually 0 of Ice Age period areas now underwater are excavated
Your last line makes no sense... "Virtually 0 of Ice Age period areas now underwater are excavated". If they are "underwater" then they have not been excavated! Name one that has, and has also been radio-carbon dated, so as to establish the age there of.
I think there were advanced civilizations between each ice age or great flood . Then we pretty well get a reboot , take over ancient sites and try our best to replicate them. Sort of a giant game of snakes and ladders.😁
There are "Ice Ages" every 13,500 years. This entire paragraph is pretty lacking of specification that points to which Ice Age you refer to. There are +50,000 year old sites on North America recent archeology has discovered that would be from 4 "Ice Ages" ago.
@@mistermycology1411 _"There are "Ice Ages" every 13,500 years. This entire paragraph is pretty lacking of specification that points to which Ice Age you refer to. ..."_
Erm, as you give a vastly incorrect average date between Ice Ages; without saying if that major or minor glacial periods, or much more regular climatic snaps, which are closer together in average time to the number, which you pulled out of some orifice like the rest of your assumptions.
I too am being assumptive, guessing this means that you are limited by your religion's sub-cult's/minor-sect's 'teachings' forces you to only to be able to think in a limited manner?
@@razor1uk610 the term "Ice Age" is a "vastly" loose term referring to a cooling period. The last "Ice Age" technically ended only a few hundred years ago, and was the result of a volcanic eruption. Also to cite religious beliefs as a contributing factor that limits my thinking is rather lazy and elementary. I guess you don't put as much effort into reading as you do into writing.
Very good video, congratulations. I suggest making a video about Izamal, which in fact was the biggest city in the northern lowlands, also with a causeway network and lots of seaports under its control.
Mayan art and style is very modern.
Thank you
I’m hooked! Thx
Thanks!
Showing images of Inca artifacts is very misleading. The Maya and the Inca weren’t even in the same continent and most likely didn’t even know about each other. It’s like showing ancient Chinese artifacts when talking about ancient Rome. Also, the Maya calendar is different from the one shown in the video (Aztec).
Tru
There would have been Chinese artifacts in Rome.
The Inca had soda technology
Did you include the lidar scan of coba (if so could you leave time stap of when it was shown in the video)? I've been there twice and the city still leaves me breathless and wanting to see more of its power!
Thank you
Fantastic
Given that is 1,500 year old stonework, ravaged by the jungle for most of that time, it is damn straight and sharp still.
Pete if you would read the Book Of Mormon you would know where those Mayans went and how they learned all their knowledge and sofistication. Best regards 😉
There has never been any proof of your claim. Not one Book of Mormon artifact has ever been found.
How would one go about getting some real archeological surveys of the Rock Wall that is buried beneath Rockwall county , and beyond? I was involved in 2 shallow excavations (40-45' x 150linear feet) of a magnificent structure that had perfectly serpentine waves as it was uncovered. I've got photos to share, if needs be? Lidar would uncover so much more than we did with excavators and shovels
I hate to tell you this but Charles Lindbergh mapped a lot of the Mayan roads via an airplane. In the early 2000's as part of 2 summer internships/landscape architecture classes thru Texas Tech University, I used GPS and ground based survey equipment to map some of the amazing road system specifically concentrating from Coba to Chichen Itza to Uxmal. National Geographic scientists used lidar as early as 2000 in Mexico The Mayans were far more advanced than most civilizations in the World, rivaling the Egyptians and Romans. There is evidence that the Maya had trading outposts as far north of Texas. And there has been evidence and researchers for decades that say they did in fact have the wheel. And the Mayan people are still alive today despite their mighty civilization collapsing. When we did presentations both summers, we would have to translate from English into Mayan for the locals and Spanish for the Mexican officials.
They packed up and went back into the forest? That never happened.
he says the end of the mayas remains a mystery 2 minutes later, calm your tits
It helps if you don't have wheels to wear ruts in the roads. Their roads thru the mountains are amazing.
I enjoyed and subscribed thanks
Old news and not laser discovery but LIDAR. This was found at least five years ago but there was so much new information that they have been studying it - particularly the MX/GUAT border. A new Nat Geo series has been done on this with the LIDAR information used as its basis.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar
news.artnet.com/art-world/technology-transforming-mayan-archaeology-1558456
The key point is that unlike radar, LiDAR (not laser tech) will actually show bare earth and image through the trees and dense leaf cover without problems or obscuration.
First sentence of your wiki link "Lidar (/ˈlaɪdɑːr/, called LIDAR, LiDAR, and LADAR) is a surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with LASER light"
And a very interesting series it is!
Here is the latest news apparently the chinese built the pyramid of the world and in china they are over 400 pyramid..... get this these pyramid are not even excavated by the chinese and they wont do it, are you catching my drift? Doesnt this tell you something or they are trying to tell us who they are? If you look at Egyptian gods statue you will see that most of them are asian for some reason... slant eyes or rounded asian feature. Why nobody has seen this yet? or nobody reporting this? baffle me
@@allaboutgaming5671 because most people base their understanding on archeology, not "latest news" that you say isn't being reported and a generalisation of Chinese people as "slant eyes".
The Chinese made all the effort of trooping over enough people to build pyramids for the Egyptians... but didn't record any of that activity... maybe it didn't happen?
Clearly, the ancient Mayans built their roads and pyramids when their landscape wasn't covered with rainforest. it takes 200-400 years to form 1 cm (0.39 inch) of soil. In wet tropical areas soil formation is faster, as it takes 200 yrs. By the time Cortes arrived to Mexico (in 1519), the Great Pyramid of Cholula was completely hidden beneath layers of dirt (like many other pyramids in L.America), making it look more like a natural mountain . We are talking here about at least half of meter of dirt (50 cm). Multiply 50 cm by 200 yrs. =10,000 years. And, this is just the topsoil and vegetation that formed over the pyramid. This corresponds to the end of the last Glacial Period (approx. 12,800 yrs. ago). Yet, this pyramid was dated to 300 BC . It makes no sense! And, this is just one example . The archaeologists dated all the pyramids in L. America to no more than 900 B.C.E. What a joke ! The Gobekli Tepe in Turkey was dated to approx 9600-8000 BC, and it already proved all archeologists and historians wrong. Our civilization didn't start 3000 BC, as they initially told us.
Yeah, so, I was recently digging a new garden bed, and I would regularly find plastic detritus at depths of ~30 cm. This either means that my mesolithic seal hunter ancestors invented plastic sandals, or, dating things maybe requires a couple more datapoints than just assuming 200 years per cm universally holds true.
@@joelmattsson9353 but was that garden bed untouched for thousands of years?
@Joel - It's quite ignorant of you to compare the macro or mega-plastics accumulation in your garden beds to the science of Pedelogy (the science of soil formation). Clearly, you never heard that agricultural land has become a major sink for all kinds of plastic, especially in the last couple of decades ( this due to speedy process of plastic fragmentation and soil being influenced by anthropogenic activities ). Moreover, many anthropogenic impacts on natural systems have caused many drastic changes on the surface of the planet. This is a whole different topic and has nothing to do with the natural soil and rainforest formation on top of the ancient pyramids in L. America. If you are an archaeologist, then you are quaite lousy one when ignorant of the aforementioned facts.
You have to wonder how these modern investigators know so positively the dates they throw around?
nice i loved it
The reasons why I believe they built the roads were for trade as well later on to invade. That's what they would say to the other cities, to get them to help them. But having roads for your armies sure it helps you, but it helps your enemies get to you when your weak as well
great doc man, just want to say...they didnt pack up anything....the deforested the jungle to grow corn, changed weather patterns and perished mostly....ironic how the plant that built the civilization ultimately destroyed it. yin/yan
amazing
Ever wondered why and how the carvings in the stone are so amazingly good !? Where did they develope that skill and art to hand work stone like that. Also It's similar to other carved stone in other parts of the world. Did these people have common ancestry ...?
It's not rocket science, they were knuckle draggerds
It's fascinating how new technology and new discoveries and filling in our understanding of history in ways we could not have imagined. DNA testing allows us to know where different cultures of the ancient world travelled and where they ended up. Eventually, we may be able to find every lost site like Göbekli Tepe using ground penetration radar from space. The way we can date and understand and link things due to the accessibility of the internet.
It's pretty amazing. I think it is very important to get every Egyptian tablet and every manuscript online. Perhaps computers will eventually be able to find links between cultures we cannot see.
They were present in El Salvador as well.
Who was capable to be present or influence the entire world if it not the chinese? they are over 400 pyramid in china than the rest of the world, The british government knew it and US too which explain their hostility toward them. I guess history is repeating again.
I love reading the comments it always gives me a laugh. I studied accent civilizations for several years. It always amazes me that there are similarities in architecture around the world. Some of these building predate the pyramids. I like what I leard two years ago about the Spanish. They asked who built this city. They were told it was built by the gods. It was already there and they moved in. I do not remember the city but it got me thinking. What if all the cities were already there? What if we got it wrong and life started in South America then moved out from there? Civilization would have thrived there before the northern ice caps melted. More investigations in this area is required. I hear alot of information about the lost culture but not much in curent research. There is still much to learn. The worst of it all is the myths the European peoples wrote about these cultures. I want the truth!
You must live in Blossom TX but you are right. Every thing we build won't last a couple of decades we've lost a lot of technology and we call them primitive
Playing serious Sam FPS set in this area is so much fun...