I remember a few years ago they thought they had a temple on a hill and they discovered the entire hill was the temple. It was so overgrown they couldn’t find the base. If the environment fights back that hard...
I mean, you’re fighting entropy every day. Sounds like an eco paradise but is also hell for historians.
In this case the Mayan society had already gotten to a point where they were able to build monuments that have lasted thousands of years. I am not that surprised that had incredibly sophisticated agriculture on a large scale because how else would they support a large population in the cities?
Building structures that last thousands of years is somewhat easy and the default once you start working with stone; many past civilizations have accomplished that. It's our modern civilization that optimized everything we do in a way that makes it not last long.
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Realistically, the only way for a society to leave markers for future archeologists is to alter its environment as much as possible.
I remember a few years ago they thought they had a temple on a hill and they discovered the entire hill was the temple. It was so overgrown they couldn’t find the base. If the environment fights back that hard...
I mean, you’re fighting entropy every day. Sounds like an eco paradise but is also hell for historians.
Infact, the Spanish built a temple on a hill in Cholula only to be discovered that it was actually a Pyramid!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Cholula
In the jungles of Central America, there are an unbelievable number of square pointy hills covered in foliage.
Abandon a stone city for 1000 years in the jungle and it gets pretty unrecognizable.
In this case the Mayan society had already gotten to a point where they were able to build monuments that have lasted thousands of years. I am not that surprised that had incredibly sophisticated agriculture on a large scale because how else would they support a large population in the cities?
Building structures that last thousands of years is somewhat easy and the default once you start working with stone; many past civilizations have accomplished that. It's our modern civilization that optimized everything we do in a way that makes it not last long.