The Mighty Maya
NORTH
AMERICA
Dozens of Maya city-states strove for dominance over two millennia—trading, mingling, and warring until the last of them were conquered by Spain in the 16th century. Today, remote sensing laser technology called lidar is peering through entangled jungle to reveal a fuller picture of how more than 6,000 sites once supported millions of people.
Gulf of Mexico
MAP
AREA
S. AMER.
Cancún
Dzibilchaltún
Izamal
Ek Balam
Mérida
Lidar
survey
track
Lidar survey area, 2009–2019
San
Gervasio
Mayapán
Chichén Itzá
Yaxuná
Cobá
Tree cover
Oxkintok
YUCATAN
PENINSULA
Cozumel
Island
Notable Maya sites by period
Uxmal
Labná
Preclassic (circa 800 B.C.–A.D. 250)
Classic (circa 250–900)
Postclassic (circa 900–1540)
CALAKMUL
BIOSPHERE
RESERVE
Campeche
Xtampak
CALAKMUL
BIOSPHERE
RESERVE
Edzná
Other sites
Major sites
50
mi
Chactún
Becán
50
km
Dzibanché
Becán
Chetumal
Calakmul
Comalcalco
Río
Azul
Caribbean
Sea
Calakmul
MAYA
BIOSPHERE
RESERVE
San
Miguel
Villahermosa
BELIZE
Lamanai
El Mirador
MEXICO
MAYA
BIOSPHERE
RESERVE
Palenque
BELIZE
Holmul
Waka'
MEXICO
Belmopan
Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Tikal
Piedras Negras
Yaxchilán
Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Caracol
Bonampak
Chiapa de Corzo
El Ceibal
Altar de Sacrificios
Chinkultic
Machaquilá
GUATEMALA
Cancuén
Lubaantún
Tonalá
San Pedro Sula
GUATEMALA
Lake Izabal
San Pedro Sula
Zaculeu
Quiriguá
Naco
Utatlán
Honduras
Izapa
Copán
Tapachula
Mixco Viejo
Honduras
Pacific
Ocean
Guatemala City
Tegucigalpa
Kaminaljuyú
Takalik
Abaj
Cotzumalhuapa
Tegucigalpa
Balberta
EL SALVADOR
Tazumal
San José
Nueve
Cerros
EL SALVADOR
San
Salvador
Matthew W. Chwastyk and Patricia Healy, NGM Staff
Sources: Tikal Reports, University of Pennsylvania; Walter Witschey and Clifford Brown, Maya-GIS; Francisco Estrada-Belli, Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University; ESA
NICARAGUA
NICARAGUA
The Mighty Maya
Dozens of Maya city-states strove for dominance over two millennia—
trading, mingling, and warring until the last of them were conquered by Spain in the 16th century. Today, remote sensing laser technology called lidar is peering through entangled jungle to reveal a fuller picture of how more than 6,000 sites once supported millions of people.
NORTH
AMERICA
MAP
AREA
S. AMER.
Lidar survey area, 2009–2019
Gulf of
Mexico
Tree cover
Selected Maya site
Cancún
Mérida
Chichén
Itzá
Lidar
survey
track
Cobá
YUCATAN
PENINSULA
Cozumel
Island
Campeche
CALAKMUL
BIOSPHERE
RESERVE
Dzibanché
Calakmul
Caribbean
Sea
El Mirador
Holmul
Tikal
MEXICO
Belmopan
MAYA
BIOSPHERE
RESERVE
BELIZE
MEXICO
GUATEMALA
GUATEMALA
Honduras
Honduras
Guatemala
City
Tegucigalpa
San José
San
Salvador
50
mi
EL SALVADOR
50
km
Pacific Ocean
NICARAGUA
Matthew W. Chwastyk
and Patricia Healy, NGM Staff
Sources: Tikal Reports, University of Pennsylvania; Francisco Estrada-Belli, Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University; ESA