Forgotten Mayan city 'discovered' in Central America by 15-year-old

[Judi Lynn]

Forgotten Mayan city 'discovered' in Central America by 15-year-old

William Gadoury made a link between the location of Mayan cities and the civilization's major constellations
Samuel Osborne |
@SamuelOsborne93 |
13 minutes ago|


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View of the ancient 'Valley of the Warriors' in Chiapas, Southern Mexico, which has recently been shown to be the largest pyramidal acropolis in Mesoamerica (file image) JANET SCHWARTZ/AFP/Getty Images
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A 15-year-old boy believes he has discovered a forgotten Mayan city using satellite photos and Mayan astronomy.

William Gadoury, from Quebec, came up with the theory that the Maya civilization chose the location of its towns and cities according to its star constellations.

He found Mayan cities lined up exactly with stars in the civilization's major constellations.

Studying the star map further, he discovered one city was missing from a constellation of three stars.

More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/forgotten-mayan-city-discovered-in-central-america-by-15-year-old-a7021291.html

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141443543

[WhiteTara]

1. What an incredible find

It makes me want to be an archaeologist and explore the unknown.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Amazing story!

[Judi Lynn]

3. How This Canadian Teen Discovered A Lost Mayan City

How This Canadian Teen Discovered A Lost Mayan City

by Charles Carrot | 15 hours ago

At just 15 years old, Quebec-native William Gadoury is already known to the Canadian Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and even NASA. Because, despite his young age, the teen’s research has allowed him to make quite an extraordinary discovery.

Making a link between constellations and Mayan cities, William put forward a hypothesis that would locate an ancient civilisation site previously unknown to scientists, reports Journal de Montréal. The theory was then confirmed by satellite analyses from the aforementioned space agencies.

Fascinated by the topic for years, William analysed 22 constellations known by the Maya and discovered that 117 of their cities were built according to the position of the stars – a correlation that had never been realised up to that point.

He then analysed a 23rd constellation containing three stars but discovered only two corresponding cities. The teen then deducted that a 118th city must therefore exist and set about presenting his calculations to the Canadian Space Agency in November 2014.

More:
http://www.konbini.com/en/inspiration/mayan-city-discovered/

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[dooner]

4. Awesome!

[Judi Lynn]

5. A 15-year-old just discovered a lost Maya city in the Mexican jungle

A 15-year-old just discovered a lost Maya city in the Mexican jungle

What did you do when you were 15?

BEC CREW
10 MAY 2016

William Gadoury, a 15-year-old school student from Quebec, Canada, has found something that’s been hidden from archaeologists for centuries - a lost city of the Maya civilisation, buried deep in the Yucatan jungle of southeastern Mexico.

He didn’t do it by hiring a bunch of expensive equipment, hopping on a plane, and slaving away on an excavation site - he discovered the incredible ruins from the comfort of his own home, by figuring out that the ancient cities were built in alignment with the stars above.

"I did not understand why the Maya built their cities away from rivers, on marginal lands and in the mountains," Gadoury told French-Canadian magazine, Journal de Montréal. "They had to have another reason, and as they worshiped the stars, the idea came to me to verify my hypothesis. I was really surprised and excited when I realised that the most brilliant stars of the constellations matched the largest Maya cities."

Gadoury had been studying 22 Maya constellations for years before releasing that he could line up the positions of 117 Maya cities on the ground with maps of stars and constellations above - something that no one had pieced together before.

More:
http://www.sciencealert.com/a-15-year-old-just-discovered-a-lost-maya-city-in-central-america

[Judi Lynn]

6. Teen's Discovery of 'Lost' Maya City is a Very Western Mistake

Teen's Discovery of 'Lost' Maya City is a Very Western Mistake

Why modern astronomical maps may not lead us to ancient sites.



A Canadian teenager used the position of a constellation to identify the location of a possible Maya city where an anomaly, shown above on Google Earth (left) and as a satellite image (right) was identified. Scholars argue whether it represents Maya construction or simply an abandoned corn field.

Satellite image courtesy of Canadian Space Agency

Kristin Romey

PUBLISHED May 11, 2016

For gee-whiz value, the announcement has been hard to beat: A Canadian teenager discovers a lost Maya city without even stepping foot in the Central American jungle.

Unfortunately, this "discovery" appears to be the well-intentioned, albeit faulty, result of modern Western education colliding with an ancient civilization that saw the world in a very different way.

According to the original news report, 15-year-old William Gadoury correlated more than 20 Maya constellations against a map of known Maya cities. The cities lined up perfectly with the star map, with the exception of a "missing" settlement in a constellation that includes the sites of Calakmul and El Mirador.

Gadoury pinpointed the location of the potential site in Campeche, Mexico by using its corresponding star. An analysis of satellite imagery from the location, performed by Armand LaRocque, an honorary research associate at the University of New Brunswick, allegedly revealed a pyramid and dozens of buildings.

More:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/20160511-Maya-Lost-City-Canadian-Teen-Discover-Constellations-Archaeology-Satellite-Stars-Gadoury/

DU'er L. Coyote nailed it here in no time at all.