By Fionn Hargreaves
A Canadian teenager has uncovered the remains of a lost Mayan city using only the night sky.
William Gadoury, 15, named the city K’aak Chi or Fire Mouth, which could be the largest Mayan settlement ever discovered.
After hours of study, the teen realized that the ancient people built their settlements according to the stars.
He carefully analyzed 22 constellations known to the Mayans and found that their position matched where the biggest cities were.
Scientists say this rectangular area in Mexico found by Gadoury is man-made because its linear features aren’t found in nature.Photo: Google Maps
His theory linked the constellations to 117 Mayan cities spread around Central and South America.
He told the Journal de MontrĂ©al: “I was really surprised and excited when I realized that the most brilliant stars of the constellations matched the largest Maya cities.”
Even though the Mayan people have been studied for hundreds of years, no one has made that link before.
But when the brilliant teen looked at his 23rd constellation, he found that there was a star that did not match up with a corresponding city.
Read the rest here.
Wow. Just wow.
ReplyDeleteFascinating.
ReplyDeleteAt dawn on the equinox, the three pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx and the ancient course of the nile map out the three stars of Orion's belt, the constellation Leo and the milky way, but to make it line up perfectly, you have to go back 10,000 years. The ancients were pretty hip.
Apparently this story has been overblown - so far there's no evidence for a newly uncovered "lost Mayan city":
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/2016/05/long-lost-mayan-city-teen-found-isnt-lost-city/