By Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation Caracol, the site
of an ancient Mayan city, is the largest archeological site in
Belize, and has been a focus of scientific exploration for
decades. Until recently, however, the only way researchers could
uncover its wonders was to slowly and laboriously hack their way
through the dense jungle overgrowth with machetes and other
tools. But nearly three years ago, researchers tried a new
approach, flying over the area with laser technology that can
penetrate through the tiniest openings in the rainforest canopy,
for the first time allowing archaeologists an unencumbered--and
unprecedented--three dimensional view of a vast expanse of this
early urban civilization. “The archaeologists were able to learn
things they hadn’t known before, for example, that the
settlement was much larger than they had seen earlier, with the
remains of previously undiscovered structures and more extensive
agricultural fields,” says William Carter, senior engineer for
the National Center F