>

How do you put definitive number on its age
Very, very cool.  Archeologists live to discover a previously unknown settlement, finding an entire civilization?  Now that's gotta feel really awesome. >

We’ve known about this civilization since at least the 1820s >

What the fuck is that link? >

It's from the book of Mormon. Moroni is supposedly the angel that once lived among the pre-Columbian civilization that Joseph Smith made up. Moroni is said to have created the golden plates that Joseph Smith translated to lead the Mormons to salvation. >

So…vague religious text? Not a religious bloke myself but hey, if you take that as proof there nothing I’m gonna say that’s gonna change your mind 🤷‍♂️ >

Haha, it's actually kind of funny to see the guy above break out Mormon lore so readily. Maybe they were being sarcastic. I don't know if you've ever been approached by Mormons but they usually try and act like they are Christians and don't bring up the weirder stuff (Jews in pre-Columbian America, polygamy, becoming a god, temple garments, etc) >

Becoming a god eh? I’m listening. >

Huh, neat. Thanks for the link. >

Why did they use a random image from different ruins found in the 1800s for this particular story? >

"We discovered the site of a huge 2,000 year old Mayan civilisation"
"May I see it"
"No" >

Localized ENTIRELY within Guatemala?! >

At this time of year? >

at this time of day, localized entierly within Guatemala? >

Can I see it? >

…..no. >

Wouldn’t this be the discovery of a city, not a civilization?  We’ve known about the Maya for a long time. >

Given that the area covered in around 1,000 square kilometers, no this isn't a city.  This is a network of interconnected cities, towns, and villages. >

I suppose 650 is closer to 1000 than 0 >

Miles to kilometers conversion >

Pre-Colombian civilisations are so fascinating to me. Their cultures are so unique. >

Pre-Columbian civilizations are pretty cool
Minus the human sacrifice part >

but all the older boys are sacrificing humans and you can't tell me they're not cool >

“the ancient civilization was made up of more than 1,000 settlements covering approximately 650 square miles”
So cool! I wonder what caused it to fade in prominence so long ago? (War or a virus likely?) >

This is still unknown. There are theories but no satisfactory answers yet. Maybe further investigation following this discovery will shed some light on it. >

Are they still alive? >

Guatemala is teeming with descendants of the Maya. >

Wouldn’t 2000 years old make this olmec and not Mayan? >

The first Mayan cities developed around 750 BCE >

Interestingly around the same time as the Zapotec cultures rose in Oaxaca valley but unlike the Mayan civilization, Zapotec culture didn't 'crash' but continued on unbroken from circa 700BC–to 1521AD and the coming of the Spaniards. >

Not all of the Mayan Cuture crashed. The Yucatec Maya had a continuous society until after colonization and many Mayan were still resisting Spanush/Mexican rule until the 1830s >

But they stopped building large temples and such after the classical era unlike the Zapotecs, that's what I was trying to point as something worth interest because Oaxaca valley and Mayan highlands are practically neighbors. What caused them to "return to simpler life" while their closest neighbor didn't experience such a 'collapse'? >

Seems like there’s a scientific revolution happening in archeology right now. We’re discovering huge civilizations completely lost to history up to now. The history of civilized man is being rewritten. Yay science! >

Might also be a Rebel Alliance base from a long, long time ago.  Look for droid parts. >

finds a Roomba, those weren't the droids we were looking for. >

YAY THATS ME! That’s my home that’s my people! >

Smithsonian Magazine had a very interesting article about this area and the research being done a few years back. >

This is truly astonishing. What an incredible discovery. >

Accessible Lidar is a wonderful thing >

Josh Gates licking his chops right now >

Human civilization has been around for a long time. >

The bigger question is what happened to all these people to suddenly vanish. 
It was aliens. >

Space turtles >

Looks kind of like mars >

Quick! Get Josh Gates! >

yeet! >

Paging /r/deltagreenrpg/ >

Wow 🤩 >

It looks like they used LIDAR. I’ll have to actual read the article, but this is pretty cool. >

5years and its a tourist trap >

Now what would be really cool is if they could do some excavation and find a library of Mayan books there, all sealed up and intact... >

Curious as to why they're saying Maya. I thought 2k years ago was linked to the culture that preceded the Maya (can't recall if it was Olmec or Toltec, it's been years since I did a course on Maya history) >

The Maya emerged before the 10^th Century BCE. You may be thinking of the divide between the Pre-Classic and Classic Maya civilisations in the 3^rd Century CE.
The Toltecs were the supposed predecessors to the Aztecs, both of whom emerged after the Classic Maya collapse in the 10^th Century CE. The Olmecs were contemporaries to the Pre-Classic Maya, but weren't directly related. >

Okay, and the Zapotec?
Man, it's been so long since I did much reading on this stuff :-/ >

I love how we are just gonna keep discovering these as we ruin earth.