February 13, 2026
Lidar lasers and comment wars
Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong
Ancient Maya numbers soar; comments split between 'wow' and 'woo'
TLDR: New research using laser mapping suggests the classic-era Maya lowlands held up to 16 million people, rewriting the history books. Commenters split between praise for an informative deep dive and jeers calling it clickbait and “woo,” with meta snark and adblocker complaints fueling the spectacle.
From a mesmerized 7-year-old at Tikal to a laser-toting archaeologist, Francisco Estrada-Belli helped boost the Maya headcount from 2 million to a jaw-dropping 16 million using plane-mounted lasers (Lidar), DNA, and soil clues. The thread went full jungle. One camp cheered—“clickbait title, great read”—while skeptics barked “please go back to /x/,” accusing it of paranormal “woo.” Rome comparisons inflamed things: some loved the “Maya > Rome?” vibe; others groaned at the spectacle. If mega-temples shocked readers, the comments detonated—equal parts awe, eye-rolls, and rage-quit energy.
Meta chaos followed: a snark bomb—“I have spoken with them and they’ve never heard of you”—and a practical hero dropping an archive link to dodge the site’s adblocker allergy. Under the memes, people clocked the stakes: high-tech data is reshaping history and ties to today’s fights over land, identity, and justice in Guatemala, where Indigenous Maya helped elect Bernardo Arévalo. Strongest split: new tech rewriting old stories vs don’t sell me ancient hype. Jokes flew, patience frayed, and one commenter declared, “I won’t engage again.” Verdict: lasers found cities; the thread found drama.
Key Points
- •New technologies—especially LiDAR—are driving a reassessment of Maya archaeology, revealing extensive settlements hidden by forest.
- •A 2023 study by Francisco Estrada-Belli’s team (with Marcello A Canuto) estimates up to 16 million people lived in the classic-era Maya lowlands (AD 600–900).
- •Earlier estimates for the same region were about 2 million, making the new figure a dramatic increase.
- •The article compares Maya achievements and urban scale to ancient Rome, noting some Maya cities predated Rome and featured larger architecture.
- •Contemporary context: more than 11 million identify as Maya/related groups today; in Guatemala (7.7 million, 44%), political demands include accountability for the 1960–1996 genocide and recognition of land rights.