Lost Maya city Valeriana discovered using LiDAR technology

A PhD candidate from Tulane University, Luke Olds-Thomas, and his team have discovered a lost Maya city named Valeriana. The discovery was made after Olds-Thomas navigated to the 16th page of Google search results to find laser research conducted by a Mexican environmental monitoring organization.

Using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, the researchers applied algorithms to digitally remove dense vegetation and distinguish man-made structures from natural terrain. This process revealed more than 6,500 pre-Hispanic structures, including pyramids, amphitheaters, and sports fields.

The metropolis, which may have housed up to 50,000 inhabitants, is located near a local highway close to a village where residents had been farming among the ruins for years without realizing their significance. Construction on parts of the city is estimated to have begun around 150 AD.