into the news. LiDAR mapping is a fabulous tool, and it looks
like the new maps may have located several new sites. Alas, the
best tool in the world is of little use when you insist on
thinking about the results in a stupid way. As you can see from
the snippet above, the local press is all excited by the notion
of finding Ciudad Blanca, the White City. The problem is, Ciudad
Blanca is a myth, the local version of El Dorado. As the leading
expert on the region's archaeology, Dr. Christopher Begley,
explains on his web site: The legend of the fabulous lost city
of Honduras was first recorded by Hernan Cortes who, in 1526,
less than five years after vanquishing the Aztecs, came to the
colonial town of Trujillo, on the north coast of Honduras, to
look for the fabled town of Hueitapalan, literally, Old Land of
Red Earth. . . .I am not sure what to make of these legends,
which seem to have been an authentic part of native folklore in
several parts of Central and South America. Did they start as a
way to get Spanish