All language subtitles for Lost.Treasures.of.the.Maya.Series.1.Part.1.Secrets.of.the.Snake.Altar.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC,MVGroup.org.eng

ALBERT: Okay, here we go.

Ready? Let's turn it on.

OMAR: Yeah.
Wow! Oh, wow.

ALBERT: Look at that.

That is nuts!
What are those?

Revealed.

From deep within the jungle.

Startling evidence
of the Maya at war.

I'm Albert Lin. Engineer...

There's a forgotten
world down there.

Lost cities
hidden in the jungle.

And National
Geographic explorer.

The frontier of the
Maya world is actually
right under our feet.

I'm on a mission to uncover
the secrets of one of the

world's most mysterious
ancient civilizations,

the Maya.

And right now, technology is
writing a whole new story.

REPORTER (over TV): New
technology reveals that
ancient civilization

in Central America may have
been much more complex than
archaeologists believed.

ALBERT: In 2018, National
Geographic broke the news
of an incredible discovery.

(speaking French).

ALBERT: That
captivated the entire world.

And I was right
there to see it.

Wow!

Revealed from the sky.

TOM: This is the most
important development in Maya
archaeology in 100 years.

ALBERT: And on the ground.

Ah, it gives you like
chills up your back.

Using 'LiDAR' technology that
can see through the dense
jungle like an X-ray.

Okay.

Are you ready to see
it without the trees?

More than 60,000 man-made
structures brought to light

in an incredible
new treasure map.

ARCHAEOLOGIST: Very narrow.

ALBERT: Now, armed
with the new map...

(speaking Spanish)

ALBERT: Some of the
world's most intrepid
archaeologists...

LEILA: It's going
to be dangerous.

ALBERT: Sure.

Are taking on the jungle.

FRANCISCO: Bhanny,
there is a painted pot.

It's got an inscription.

ALBERT: In search
of its secrets.

FRANCISCO: We have a skeleton.

ALBERT: All on a quest

to rewrite the
astonishing story

of the Maya.

Alright!

To me, the Maya have
always been one of
the most fascinating

of all ancient civilizations.

But so much of what we
thought we knew is wrong.

Down there right now history
is being completely rewritten.

Armed with this new
revolutionary treasure map,
archaeologists are on this

journey of discovery,
but on a massive scale.

This time I'm investigating
the Maya at war.

Unearthing a rare
ritual altar...

MARCELLO: This is the
moment we've been waiting
for for about a year.

Efraim, Efraim, Efraim!

ALBERT: With links to
one of the most ruthless
of all Maya dynasties.

I'll be exploring an ancient
site that saw mass conflict.

Something went
down like right here.

Right here people died.

And I'll be following one of
the most startling of all the
new discoveries.

EDWIN: Wow!

ALBERT: That's
completing overturning...

EDWIN: Wow!

ALBERT: Everything
experts thought they
knew about warfare...

ALBERT: And the ancient Maya.

Deep in the jungles
of Central America,
Guatemalan archaeologist,

Edwin Roman-Ramirez
is on a mission.

Heading for a remote mountain
ridge in search of the Maya.

ALBERT: The Maya
emerged 3,000 years
ago in Central America,

across a region of
what is now Guatemala,

Southern Mexico and
adjoining countries.

The Maya tamed the jungle,
creating cities of dazzling
scale and complexity.

Forging a civilization
that lasted over 2,000 years.

But as well as stunning glories,
there was a brutal side

of blood and human sacrifice.

But apart from inscriptions
and carvings little is known
about how they waged war.

Edwin is on the hunt
for new evidence,

exploring the deep jungle
outside an ancient city

called El Zotz, in the
far north of Guatemala.

He's working with
fellow archaeologist

and National Geographic
explorer, Tom Garrison.

TOM: I mean this LiDAR data
is incredible. You know...

ALBERT: On the new high tech
map they can see evidence of
huge man-made structures.

TOM: This looks like we have
a pretty serious causeway

almost running up the
side of the cliff face.

ALBERT: Before, these
buildings were completely
hidden beneath the jungle.

Now, they're being laid bare.

TOM: I'm thinking maybe if you
start down here and climb up,
check out what that looks like

and then maybe see
what this earth work is.

It looks like a
pretty big one.

ALBERT: Tom and Edwin
think the newly identified
buildings could reveal some

unique clues to Maya warfare.

TOM: I mean you look at these
features here and, you know,

this one's almost
eight meters tall.

EDWIN: Eight meters, Tom?
TOM: Yeah.

But, of course, we're not
going to know 'til you get
out there and check on it.

Yeah, this'll be exciting.

EDWIN: Okay, that
sounds perfect.

TOM: Alright.
EDWIN: Thank you, Tom.

TOM: Yeah.
EDWIN: We'll see you later.

ALBERT: The new map
reveals a mysterious
series of buildings,

running two and a half
miles along a steep ridge,

all seemingly connected
to a whole complex of
structures at its base.

Oppressive heat,
dense vegetation
and deadly wildlife

make this one of the
most extreme frontiers
in archaeology.

ALBERT: It's Edwin's 15th
season working in these
punishing conditions.

ALBERT: But it's the
very first time with
the new treasure map.

ALBERT: Then suddenly out
of the dense jungle...

ALBERT: Edwin spots something.

Perched at the very top
of the mountain ridge...

an ancient pyramid
hidden for centuries.

And it seems the
pyramid is just one of
a group of structures

all revealed by
new technology.

EDWIN: Ooh-hoo, yeah.

ALBERT: The new treasure
map is the result of a
massive survey,

charting over 800
square miles of jungle.

Called the Pacunam
LiDAR initiative it's
bringing together

an international
consortium of experts.

One of the engineers behind
the survey is Juan-Carlos
Fernandez Diaz.

His team flies a plane
over the dense jungle canopy.

Using high-tech scanning
equipment, billions of
laser pulses are

fired down and bounced back.

The technique is called LiDAR.

ALBERT: Only a tiny
fraction of the pulses
make it to the ground.

ALBERT: Once all the unwanted
pulses reflected from the
trees are filtered out,

the data that's left
allows the engineers
to build a 3D map

of the hidden jungle floor.

San Diego, California.

This is where I research using
digital technologies to
explore the ancient world.

And I've been given
very special access...

Look at this.

To explore the new
data on a giant scale.

This is how the
jungle looks from above.

But when LiDAR strips
away the trees...

countless man-made
structures appear.

In all, an incredible
60,000 hidden features
have been revealed.

Two of the project leaders,
National Geographic explorers,

Tom Garrison and Marcello
Canuto have come to join me.

LiDAR.

MARCELLO: Wow, look at that!

TOM: Magic.

MARCELLO: Look at that.
Look at that. Wow.

It's almost like we're
flying over the ancient
Maya world in a helicopter.

This is what is so exciting
about LiDAR, it's humbling.

There are things that the
LiDAR data is teaching me
and teaching all of us.

TOM: We're not just
talking about one new
city, it's dozens.

It's a scale of discovery,
like you're saying, that it
just blows everyone's mind.

MARCELLO: When I saw the
first LiDAR coming out I
said that's the future,

you know, that's
what we have to do.

ALBERT: Back near
the ancient Maya
city of El Zotz,

the new map has led
Edwin Roman-Ramirez to
a spectacular discovery.

On top of this high
mountain ridge hides
an ancient pyramid.

ALBERT: Beyond the pyramid
Edwin spots more ruins.

ALBERT: And surrounding
them all, giant walls.

ALBERT: All
predicted by LiDAR.

But this new site, with banks
and ramparts, looks nothing
like a typical Maya city.

EDWIN: Look at that.

ALBERT: And its discovery
could solve a massive mystery

about the Maya at war.

EDWIN: Wow.
This is really amazing.

ALBERT: Edwin Roman-Ramirez
has followed the new LiDAR

treasure map to a
startling discovery.

The ruins of what Edwin
believes was once a vast
fortified citadel,

protected by the mountain
ridge and surrounded by
massive ramparts.

Which makes it a
groundbreaking find.

Because in all the
Maya world, permanent
defenses on such a scale

have barely ever been found.

Before the LiDAR map
experts believed the
Maya settled conflict

in a very unusual way.

They thought it was highly
ritualized, involving only

the capture and
sacrifice of kings.

But now the new evidence
suggests something very
different.

On the giant screen,

Edwin's mountain
fortress is evidence of
war on a colossal scale.

Wow. Look at that ridge.

TOM: Yeah, this is amazing.

I mean you can't really
say this is anything other
than a Maya fortress.

You can see big ditch
and rampart systems.

The one up there that's
eight meters high.

So, you know, it's
like 25 feet tall.

This is a heavily
protected area.

Now we're looking west,
and as we move up to the
next couple of ridges

we start to see
lone stone structures,
and what this could be

would be a system
of watch-towers,
of surveillance.

ALBERT: Watchtowers?

TOM: See that one right there?

ALBERT: Yeah, yeah.

TOM: Yeah. They're
monitoring this landscape.

You see a feature like this
and you know that you're

looking at a landscape
of conflict.

This is a fortress, it's
a military installation,
people are at war.

ALBERT: Edwin returns
from the fortified ridge,

because down on
the valley floor

there are remains
of more buildings.

Here, excavations
have already begun.

And from one of the
first test pits...

FERNANDO: Awesome.

ALBERT: There's an
astonishing discovery.

ALBERT: An incredibly
rare and perfectly
preserved flint spearhead

well over 1,000 years old.

ALBERT: A deadly spearhead.

Fortified ramparts.

And a line of watchtowers

leave the archaeologists
in no doubt.

TOM: You're looking at a
landscape of conflict.

ALBERT: This is compelling
evidence of all out war,

right at the heart
of the Maya world.

It's incredible for me to
think that all that jungle
wilderness down there

was once a landscape of
fear and of conflict.

On a scale that experts
had never imagined until
the LiDAR survey.

But I want to explore
evidence of war for myself.

Where I'm headed is so
remote the only way in
is by helicopter,

and then by river.

This is the age of discovery,
this is what it's all about.

Yeah!

I'm joining Puerto Rican
archaeologist Omar Alcover.

Far beyond the Pacunam
survey area he's part
of a team that is taking

remote archaeology
to a whole new level.

Are we in no-man's land
right now, what is this?

OMAR: We're basically
in international waters.

The river's shared by both
Mexico and Guatemala,

and it's one of the
natural borders between
the two countries.

ALBERT: 2,000 years ago
these banks were home to
two rival Maya kingdoms.

An ancient Maya city
called Piedras Negras.

And Macabilero, a nearby group
of barely-explored ruins.

At both sites, cutting edge
technology is revealing
more startling evidence

of the Maya at war.

The sun's now making its
way right overhead and the
temperatures have picked up.

So it's going to
be a challenge.

I'm going up a little
bit more bionic than most.

But it's worth it.

This jungle has secrets
to reveal and we're going
to find them right now.

ALBERT: I'm climbing through
isolated mountain jungle with
archaeologist Omar Alcover.

For the Maya this would
have been just as tough.

This is some of the
densest jungle I've ever been.

I mean it's old
growth, you know.

You can't see more than 50 or
a 100 feet in any direction,
then it's just green.

The challenge is trying to
find anything in all this.

Luckily for us,
we've got technology.

Okay.

Ready, let's turn it on.

OMAR: Yeah.
ALBERT: Wow.

OMAR: Oh, wow.
Nice. Yeah.

ALBERT: Look at that.

That is nuts.

What are those?

Is that just all masonry?

I've built data gathered
by Omar into an augmented
reality platform.

And suddenly I can strip
away the trees revealing

a vast wall stretching over
100 yards across the hillside.

It's like an x-ray right
through the trees, huh?

That is crazy.

Let's go check it out.

OMAR: Yeah, let's go.

ALBERT: It's amazing to
think each one of these
blocks would have been

cut and hauled
up here by hand.

But until Omar combined
thousands of close-up
photographs into a single

model it was impossible
to see the entire line of
the wall from a distance.

And what it reveals is
the incredible effort
made by the Maya here

to defend themselves
from attack.

OMAR: The fact that they
built over seven of these
on the top of a mountain

means the threat of a violent
encounter was very real.

ALBERT: Something went
down like right here,
right here people died.

OMAR: Yeah,
probably, probably.

ALBERT: You're running up,
you're trying to attack,
you're running up,

you hit these bricks and
then all of a sudden...

OMAR: They come at you
with sling stones or
just loose rocks even

that they throw down.

ALBERT: This is another
fortress built by a
community under threat

over 2,000 years ago,
right at the extremes
of the Maya world.

Along with Edwin's
citadel near El Zotz,
these discoveries

are changing our whole
understanding of Maya warfare.

It's been a really
hard day, really hard.

But there's a lot more to
see in this whole jungle,

and it's just going to have
to wait until tomorrow.

64 miles east of Omar's
fortress and back inside
the LiDAR survey area

it's morning, and here
they've got better weather.

That's good news
for archaeologist
Marcella Canuto.

He's on a mission to explore
another totally new discovery
revealed by the LiDAR map.

MARCELLO: The site
is relatively large.

You know, you can see
several buildings, one,
two, three, four, five,

and there's sort of maybe
three buildings here and
perhaps a little platform.

So it's a relatively
substantial site.

ALBERT: Marcello
has spent more than a
decade investigating

an ancient Maya site
called La Corona.

It's his first field
season since the results
of the Pacunam survey.

And on this giant screen
Marcello is going to see

La Corona as he's
never seen it before.

So hidden inside
these trees...

MARCELLO: Yeah.

ALBERT: Is the
site of La Corona.

MARCELLO: Yes.

So nestled in amongst
all of these swamps and
hidden under those trees

is the main part of La
Corona right there.

ALBERT: Let's
take a look, ready?

MARCELLO: Yeah.
Wow, look at that.

That looks great.

Look at that,
look at that, wow.

ALBERT: That's your site.

MARCELLO: That's it,
that's it. That's it.

ALBERT: Wow.

MARCELLO: Yeah, that
is so cool to see.

ALBERT: It just all of a
sudden pops out of the trees.

MARCELLO: Yes, exactly.

ALBERT: How long have
you been working here?

MARCELLO: We have been
working here since 2005.

ALBERT: 2005.
MARCELLO: 2005.

ALBERT: And then only this
year you see this LiDAR data.

MARCELLO: Yes, exactly.

This is the first time we're
actually seeing the entire
site in one shot.

ALBERT: No-one knows La
Corona better than Marcello.

But the LiDAR map is
even surprising him.

MARCELLO: Look at that, okay.

There is a causeway that
I had not seen before

right there, coming through that
central group, right there.

See those two
little parallel lines.

ALBERT: Oh, yeah, I see
they sort of run together...

MARCELLO: That's right.
That's right.

And what it's doing
is it's actually...

Oh, that's amazing.

And that causeway
is connecting up
to another group

that we've never
investigated before.

ALBERT: Did you know
about this before?

MARCELLO: No, no, I did
not know about this at all.

I really did not
know about this.

Until I saw this data
I had never seen that
causeway before.

ALBERT: And it's not
the only discovery
revealed by the LiDAR.

Further, beyond the new
causeway there's another
previously unknown site.

Heading into the field
outside La Corona,
Marcello investigates.

MARCELLO: This is it.

Okay.

ALBERT: Before the
LiDAR survey, Marcello
would never have found

anything hidden in this jungle.

MARCELLO: Oh, yeah, yeah.

ALBERT: But right on cue.

MARCELLO: There it is!

MARCELLO: There's
the main structure.

How cool is this?
Yep, this is the big one.

This is the main structure.

ALBERT: The LiDAR map
has led Marcello to
some ancient remains

completely new
to archaeology.

MARCELLO: And
there's the other one,
there's the other one.

These are the two main
structures in the site
that we were looking for.

ALBERT: It's a massive find.

An entire settlement
less than a day's march
north of La Corona.

Future excavations will seek
to reveal more about this site
and La Corona itself.

MARCELLO: In the
simplest way possible we
found a new site today,

that's a good day.

That's a really good day.

ALBERT: Back at the
main site in La Corona

excavations have been
underway for over a decade,

and it still continues
to yield treasures.

MARCELLO: Working in a
place like La Corona is
almost a full time job.

So after 12 years it becomes
just part of your life.

So of course it holds
that kind of special
place for all of us,

because this is something
that we've dedicated our
professional lives to.

ALBERT: One of the biggest
finds of all is being dug
from the ground this season.

A lavishly carved
stone monument.

Marcello made the discovery
beneath a collapsed temple

in one of La Corona's
grand plazas

right at the heart
of the ancient city.

Carvings on the monument
contain clues to one of the
most powerful royal dynasties

the Maya ever knew.

The Snake Kings.

For over a century
experts have worked to
decode Maya writing,

and much of it still
remains a mystery.

But they have been able
to decipher the story
of the Snake Kings,

who rose in the north and
conquered city after city,
including La Corona.

Morning, the beginning of a
crucial day at La Corona.

Marcello and his team
are preparing to lift
the precious monument

and transport it to safety,
at Guatemala's National
Museum of Archaeology.

Its shape and location leave
the team in no doubt that

this is a sacred ritual altar.

MARCELLO: We have evidence
on the very surface of this
altar of some burning,

some kind of ritual
that involves fire.

The kinds of rituals that
were involved here are
difficult to imagine.

Rituals that in other sites
involve burning would have

involved some form
of blood-letting.

ALBERT: Torture and death were
fundamental to Maya belief.

On sacred altars ceremonies
would be held to appease the
gods with human sacrifice.

Guatemalan archaeologist,
Alejandro Gonzalez began

excavating the altar
over a year ago.

MARCELLO: So right now
we're finally setting
up the scaffolding

that's going to be required
to lift the altar.

ALBERT: Made from solid
limestone, it's twice the
weight of a grand piano.

MARCELLO: This is the
moment we've been waiting
for for about a year.

So we'll see how this works.

So this is it.

MARCELLO: Minutes ago like the
whole altar slightly moved,

and I was thinking to myself,
you know, that's the first
time this altar has moved in

the last 1500 years.

Everything is starting to
tense up, both my nerves
as well as the ropes.

ALBERT: For archaeologists
it's the altar's inscriptions
that are most important,

with clues to the epic rise
of the Maya Snake Kings

hidden in its delicate
and intricate carvings.

The altar depicts a
powerful King of La Corona
and it reveals his name,

Chak Took Ich'aak, a known
ally of the Snake Kings.

And a longer inscription
even tells us when it was
dedicated,

May 12th 544 AD.

Until this discovery,
no-one knew that the
powerful Chak Took Ich'aak

had anything to do
with La Corona at all.

But the altar's Snake King
inscriptions fit with the

new discoveries revealed
in the LiDAR map.

MARCELLO: From La Corona
this is exactly in the
direction that one would

walk to go to Calakmul, the
capital of the Snake Kings.

ALBERT: It turns out that
Marcello's newly revealed
causeway and settlements

went directly to the
Snake's capital city,
far to the north.

MARCELLO: What we think is
going on is that for the Snake
Kings to do everything they

wanted to do in the rest of
the Maya world they needed
to go through La Corona.

(speaking Spanish).

ALBERT: Back in La
Corona's ancient plaza,
Marcello and his team

have been working
in scorching heat
for eight hours,

gradually inching the
altar from the ground.

MARCELLO: It's lifted.

We're holding its weight
and we're now just
trying to guide it.

ALBERT: Time is running out.

MARCELLO: It's going to be
our last shot because we're
going to lose the light

in about half an hour, in
less than an hour we'll
lose the light for sure.

ALBERT: After more than a
1,000 years in the ground
the precious altar hangs

precariously in the air.

(shouting)

MARCELLO: Efraim,
Efraim, Efraim, Efraim.

ALBERT: The
point of no return.

A ton of ancient Maya
altar is hanging from a
fragile jungle scaffold.

Night is fast approaching and
the altar is still not safe.

MARCELLO: Oh, my
god, it's on the truck.

-It's on the truck.

MARCELLO: It's on the truck.

I'm never finding another
monument in my life!

ALBERT: At last
they've done it.

MARCELLO: I'm ecstatic, I'm
exhausted, but I'm ecstatic.

ALBERT: Back on Guatemala's
border with Mexico the rain's
finally cleared and

I'm with archaeologist
Omar Alcover on the trail
of another ancient city.

We just made it another
10 miles down the river
in this wilderness,

this thick, deep jungle.

And we're now at one of the
most important archaeological
sites in all of the Maya

world, and yet we're still in
the most remote part of the
Guatemalan jungle.

I've already explored a mighty
fortress at Macabilero,

now I'm heading for an
ancient city called
Piedras Negras.

Far beyond the Pacunam
survey area, Omar is a
part of a team using a

new technology that
could be another game
changer in archaeology.

Here they've been
doing LiDAR using drones.

It's more flexible than using
conventional aircraft, and
much more affordable.

Right now this technology
is experimental, but the
potential is massive.

The trees are so thick here.

OMAR: Yeah.

ALBERT: I've built the very
first data map of Piedras Negras

into my augmented
reality platform,

and I'm hoping it will let me
see through this dense jungle.

Trees... no trees.

That is awesome.

Wow.

OMAR: Oh, wow.

ALBERT: So that's a building?
OMAR: Yeah.

ALBERT: Whoa, look at that.
What is that?

OMAR: Yeah, that's a pyramid.

ALBERT: That is so
awesome, it's like a
window into the past.

This is incredible.

I mean this is just...

It's almost like magic,
you know, all of a sudden

you can just delete the
trees and there you go.

For the very first time,
thanks to drone LiDAR,

I can see the ancient
remains of what were once

the giant pyramids of
a lavish royal court.

Excavations are even helping
to predict how many of the
buildings might have looked.

They're so different from the
first fortress at Macabilero.

Omar's in no doubt, this royal
court was built by a different
group of Maya people.

And he believes that the
two groups were at war.

Did something happen
between here and Macabilero?

OMAR: Yeah. I mean
Macabilero gets abandoned,
but Piedras Negras rose,

not only in power,
but in population and
size immediately after

Macabilero was abandoned.

ALBERT: So something
must have gone down?

OMAR: Mmhmm.

ALBERT: It's intriguing to
think that 2,000 years ago

this lavish royal
court of Piedras Negras

could have been at war with the
nearby settlement of Macabilero.

And Omar believes that
conflict might have continued
for more than 600 years,

until around 350 AD, when the
fortress of Macabilero fell

and its settlement
was abandoned.

Piedras Negras was
victorious and flourished
into a mighty Maya kingdom.

OMAR: Its name in
ancient Mayan...

ALBERT: Would have been what?

OMAR: Would have been Yo'k'ib.

ALBERT: Yo'k'ib.
What does that mean?

OMAR: It's like the
home of the turtle lords.

ALBERT: The turtle lords?
OMAR: Mmhmm.

So that's how the royal
court identified themselves,
as the turtle lords.

ALBERT: We're standing on
the hallowed grounds of the

ancient turtle lords right now?

OMAR: Yeah.

ALBERT: With a
window into their world.

In Maya mythology,
turtles were important.

Their shells were
associated with earth
gods and represented

the cracked soil that
crops grew from.

The turtle lord of Piedras
Negras were the self-styled

lords of the life-giving
earth itself.

Oh, look at this, this
is an actual room, huh?

OMAR: Yeah, so this is the
entrance to one of them.

ALBERT: Wow.

Exploring the grand royal
court of Piedras Negras I can
still sense their power.

Look at these massive stairs
and these terraced mounds.

You're basically looking at
the blood, sweat and tears of
hundreds and hundreds of

people over many generations.

OMAR: Yeah, so that's what
basically highlights the
power these Kings had,

able to mobilize all of
the resources and people
that would have been

necessary to build
a space like this.

It really accentuates
the power of the turtle
lords here.

ALBERT: And now, after
centuries of decay,
modern archaeology and

cutting-edge LiDAR from
drones can fully reveal this

incredible ancient palace
for the very first time.

Before LiDAR most of
what we knew of Maya
war came from drawings

depicting ritual conflict
and the capture of kings.

But now that's
completely changing.

Revealed by new technology...

ALBERT: A fortified citadel at
the heart of the Maya world,

with ramparts, watch-towers,

and even the incredibly rare
evidence of a weapon of war.

EDWIN: That's a
really cool find.

ALBERT: A ritual altar
connecting the city of
La Corona to the powerful

warring dynasty of
the Snake Kings.

MARCELLO: That's the first
time this altar has moved
in the last 1500 years.

ALBERT: And a settlement
pointing towards their
capital far to the north.

MARCELLO: There it is.
There's the main structure.

How cool is this?

ALBERT: All newly discovered
evidence of conflict being
made by technology.

TOM: It's a much more
sophisticated idea of conflict
and war than you think of when

you see pictures of
Maya Kings capturing
a single person by the

hair in battle, you know.

That's a single event.

MARCELLO: This tells you
this is not small scale.

These are, this is a landscape

that is riddled with conflict
and was for centuries,

and this is something that we
would never have been able to
tell without the LiDAR.

ALBERT: With tens of thousands
of new LiDAR discoveries still
waiting to be explored...

TOM: It's incredible.

It's a revolution
in our field.

It is changing the way
that we do Maya archaeology.

ALBERT: The jungles of Central
America can only have more
secrets to give up.

TOM: We're definitely
talking about a period
that is pre-LiDAR and

post-LiDAR in Maya archaeology,
and everything that we know now

is going to be different
from what we knew before.

It's that big of a change.

ALBERT: It almost feels
like the invention of the
CAT scan or the x-ray,

but for archaeology.

From high in the sky
to beneath the trees,

into the very depths
of the Maya world,

archaeologists are still
just beginning to reveal

the extraordinary world
of one of our planet's

greatest ancient
civilizations,

the mysterious jungle
kingdoms of the Maya.

Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.