27 Maya ritual sites discovered on online map by eagle-eyed archaeologist

Researchers have uncovered a 1,500-year-old stucco mask of Maya ruler K'inich Janaab'Pakal. What differentiates this mask from others is it's seemingly made in the king's likeness. An eagle-eyed archaeologist has used a freely available online map to locate 27 Maya ceremonial sites in Mexico. Takeshi Inomata, a professor of archaeology at the University of Arizona, made the discovery using a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) map he found online last year, according to the New York Times. LiDAR technology harnesses a laser to measure distances to the Earth's surface and can prove extremely valuable to study what is hidden in areas with thick vegetation.