The ancient Mayan city of Calakmul, located in the middle of the Yucatan Peninsula, was also located in the middle of the Mayan territory. The Mayan civilization occupied a wide territory in the southeast of current Mexico and the north of Central America. For centuries, this civilization was remained forgotten before it was discovered again at the end of the 19 th century. They couldn’t believe that the indigenous of this region (Maya) were descendant of such a prestigious civilization. So when the Spanish conquistadors discovered this part of the word in the 16 th century, the Mayan civilization had already disappeared and they found the ruins of huge cities with pyramids. For unknown reasons their civilization collapsed, but the Mayan people haven’t disappeared and are still living region today. The Mayan civilization covered 15 centuries, from 600 BC until AD 900. The evidence indicates that at this time there was increased climatic dryness, extensive deforestation, overpopulation, and widespread warfare.This Mesoamerican civilization is nowadays well known for its pyramids, its big cities, its calendar… But for centuries it had totally disappeared under the vegetation, before it was discovered again at the end of the 19th century. However, around AD 800, something happened to the Maya to cause their rapid decline and eventual disappearance from the region. Although they experienced several setbacks such as droughts and hurricanes, the Maya nevertheless managed the delicate forest ecosystem successfully for several centuries. Remote sensing imagery is also demonstrating that in the Preclassic period (600 BC- AD 250), the Maya had already achieved a high organizational level as evidenced by the construction of massive temples and an elaborate inter-connecting roadway system. The use of the bajos for farming is also an important resource for the future of the current inhabitants who are experiencing rapid population growth. But the recent detection and verification of cultural features within the bajo system by our research team are providing conclusive evidence that the ancient Maya had adapted well to wetland environments from the earliest times and utilized them until the time of the Maya collapse. The use of bajos for farming has been a source of debate within the professional community for many years. Satellite imagery is also being used to map the bajos, which are seasonally flooded swamps that cover over 40% of the land surface. Thematic Mapper and IKONOS satellite and airborne Star3-I radar data, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, are successfully detecting ancient Maya features such as cities, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs. Remote sensing technology is helping to locate and map ancient Maya sites that are threatened today by accelerating deforestation and looting. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. Mapping The Ancient Maya Landscape From Space The Peten region of northern Guatemala is one of the last places on earth where major archeological sites remain to be discovered.
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