Guatemala above & Inset Investigation of what appeared to be a single pyramid (visible in the upper centre of the inset image), identified on the LiDAR data covering the outskirts of the city of Witzna, led to the discovery of two further pyramids along a causeway leading out from the city. Excavations revealed a ritual complex, and also this stone stela, which had suffered from burning and deliberate defacing. Note how effectively the surrounding jungle obscures visibility. below A Maya superhighway. Faint traces of a causeway (arrowed) and two previously unknown settlements were found along a proposed route linking the cities of La Corona (seen in the LiDAR image at the termination of the route) and Calakmul.

El Palmar. We’ve been working there for a little while, and thought it was a minor site, but now the LiDAR has revealed that it’s 40 times larger than we suspected. That raises fundamental questions about how the region was developing during this period. We’d assumed that there wasn’t much else going on around Tikal as it developed into a major Preclassic settlement, but now you have to wonder whether El Palmar could have been a rival to Tikal. If so, why is it that one is abandoned and the other isn’t? At that point, you have to wonder if violence could have been involved.’

‘That could also be a factor when we look at the origins of El Zotz, which of course also lies close to Tikal. Both of these settlements were ancient Maya city-states, which had their own royal dynasties, but that doesn’t mean they were equal in scale.

In that regard, comparing Tikal and El Zotz is a bit like comparing London with a provincial UK town. El Zotz was very much a minor power, and it seems as though it was subservient to Tikal for a while. Basically, El Zotz survived by allying itself with whoever was powerful at any given time. There’s been archaeological work at a part of El Zotz known as El Diablo since 2006, which I’ve been involved with since 2009. El Diablo is a hilltop that overlooks the rest of the town, and we now know this is where the Classic period started at El Zotz. We even found the tomb of the first king there in 2010.’

‘When we got the LiDAR data, it showed a series of terraces around El Diablo, and we made these proclamations saying, “Oh, it’s a fortress, these are defensive works”, but of course people might think that they were for agriculture, allowing the inhabitants to grow their crops on the hillside. So, as well as checking the LiDAR data on the ground and finding the earthworks, we needed to excavate to prove what they were. To do that, we dug big trenches along the earthworks, and fortunately it turned out www.world-archaeology.com

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