15-year-old discovers a forgotten Mayan City

[Likely Guy]

"They may have lived some 1,700 years ago, but the ancient Maya had an incredible knowledge of celestial bodies, which they believed influenced everything from harvest to death.

Now a 15-year-old boy has studied astronomical charts devised by these ancient Mexican people, as well as satellite photos, to pinpoint the location of a forgotten Mayan city.

William Gadoury, from Quebec has named the 'lost city' in the Yucatan jungle K'aak Chi, or Mouth of Fire."

http://www.dailymail...tellations.html

This is sooo cool!

Edited May 11, 2016 by Likely Guy

[Thorvir]

Neat! Good for him.

[kmt_sesh]

The kid's not just adorable, he's brilliant. A future archaeologist, to be sure.

And he's proof that today's youth offer endless promise for the future.

[Only_]

And he's from Quebec!! Good job.

[kmt_sesh]

And he's from Quebec!! Good job.

Hey, you're from Canada too. Have you met him?

Kidding.

One thing's for sure (at least in my opinion): once archaeologists enter the site and determine it's safe, William Gadoury should be allowed to visit (all expenses paid) and explore it to his heart's content.

I'm just damn impressed with the young man. I wasn't doing anything remarkable when I was fifteen.

[Likely Guy]

Hey, you're from Canada too. Have you met him?

Kidding.

One thing's for sure (at least in my opinion): once archaeologists enter the site and determine it's safe, William Gadoury should be allowed to visit (all expenses paid) and explore it to his heart's content.

I'm just damn impressed with the young man. I wasn't doing anything remarkable when I was fifteen.

Apparently he came up with the hypothesis when he was 13. Amazing if his discovery is true.

https://www.thestar....tellations.html

P.S. Kmt, we all know each other up here.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Likely Guy

[kmt_sesh]

...

P.S. Kmt, we all know each other up here.

LOL Only because you all have to huddle together in the winter to stay warm.

[Likely Guy]

LOL Only because you all have to huddle together in the winter to stay warm.

I'll sick DoT on you!

[Leonardo]

***GRUMPY PEDANT ALERT***

While I congratulate young Mr Gadoury on his discovery, and his ingenious method, he did not discover a "Mayan" city - he discovered a Maya City.

The adjective "Mayan" is only used in reference to the language the Maya spoke (and wrote) or a speaker/writer of that language - i.e. "He/she is a Mayan speaker.", "The language is Mayan.", etc.

[Skulduggery]

Feel-good story for the week. Awesome job.

[Peter B]

I was also impressed at the young man's work when I read the story - good on him.

However I was intrigued at the logic that underlay the theory - that the size of the cities was proportional to the brightness of the stars they were associated with.

That is, how would a society spread across hundreds of kilometres regulate the size of >100 towns and cities to make sure they stayed close to their allocated size?

[David Thomson]

The really amazing thing is that the Maya culture had advanced mapping skills and could place cities over great distances exactly where they wanted them based upon star position. Now the question is, why was a specific star system chosen? How does this relate to the many ancient Indian artifacts that depict spacemen in their spacecraft?

[SHaYap]

THere were probably hundreds if not thousands of tribes all over the globe worshiping different constellations and mapping them accordingly to their own traditions ... not all survived to achieve the kind of success that allowed the ones that left cities that remained as ruins for us today to discover ~ absence of is not merely of absence and all that ~

[Why not]

Good job kid. Let's just hope nothing is found there that does not go along with all the common beliefs that the main stream archeology believe, or this smart young mans career will be over before it starts. Yes, I am being a smart A--.

[questionmark]

well, not to rain on the parade but:

It’s no fun when a feel-good story has to get debunked, especially when it’s a story about a smart, science-loving kid. But, unfortunately, it seems obvious that reports of a Quebec teen “discovering” a lost Mayan city have been overblown.

William Gadoury, a 15-year-old from Saint-Jean-de-Matha, hypothesized that Mayans might have built their cities so they lined up with major constellations. In investigating his theory, he found that lots of cities seemed to line up with bright stars, but one major constellation was without a known settlement. When Gadoury got the Canadian Space Agency to turn a satellite over to that remote area, he spotted what seem to be man-made structures.

Gadoury’s enthusiasm is wonderful, and he did a neat experiment. But how much can we conclude from his informal findings? Not much. There’s a reason we didn’t cover this story when it started going viral Tuesday: Without a formal, peer-reviewed study of the stars-and-cities hypothesis (and even with one), it’s a bit reckless to run with the conclusion that it has been proven. And now many experts have chimed in to express skepticism.

Read more

[Eldorado]

I'm glad he's just a normal starry-eyed teen.

[phantulum]

hmm why not Egypt?

[Thorvir]

hmm why not Egypt?

What about it?

Egypt is in Africa. The Mayans were in South America. Quebec is in Canada. I'm here in Indiana.

What are you asking, specifically?

[jarjarbinks]

Well, im glad that my previous post draw so much attention. The only article available this saturday was in french (im from Quebec). I posted it here (link : http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=294266 )

and on many websites. The newspaper got so many phone called from all around the world since then that it became a worldwide news.

Hope this kid will get his chance of seeing the city.

[SHaYap]

Yup ... don't let the stuffy spoil sports get their way ...

[Harry_Bow]

I've been thinking this for years, so i was right also. I just didn't do anything about it as i was always too busy watching porn and gambling. At least i'm rich with a massive right forearm!!!

[PaganProud81]

Didn't they talk about ancient cultures doing this on Ancient Aliens? They found out that cultures from all over the world, who never came into contact with each other, had buildings/pyramids that lined up perfectly with Orion's belt. Pretty intriguing to say the least.

[switchopens]

The critics can be just hostile:

http://gizmodo.com/experts-doubt-that-a-teen-found-a-lost-maya-city-1775985640

The article on Gizmodo has several quotes from academics which can only be described as condescending. One even calls it "Junk science", which is absurder since sometimes science is about throwing a theory out there and testing it. This kid(untrained) had a hunch, followed it and found something interesting. It's not his fault that the media overreacted to what was presented.

[seeder]

"They may have lived some 1,700 years ago, but the ancient Maya had an incredible knowledge of celestial bodies, which they believed influenced everything from harvest to death.

Now a 15-year-old boy has studied astronomical charts devised by these ancient Mexican people, as well as satellite photos, to pinpoint the location of a forgotten Mayan city.

William Gadoury, from Quebec has named the 'lost city' in the Yucatan jungle K'aak Chi, or Mouth of Fire."

http://www.dailymail...tellations.html

This is sooo cool!

And now the Daily Mail say....

A lost Mayan City? It's probably just a corn field! Experts cast doubt on claims 15-year-old has found a forgotten settlement from his bedroom

William Gadoury from Quebec found location of Mayan cities match stars

Using charts and satellite photos he pinpointed a possible 'lost' city

If this is true, it would make the Mayan settlement one of the fifth largest

But archaeologists say the shapes he found may be abandoned cornfields

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3584663/A-lost-Mayan-City-just-cornfield-Experts-cast-doubt-claims-15-year-old-forgotten-settlement-Mexican-Jungle-using-satellite-photos.html#ixzz48O1yk4dO

[Gecks]

Even if it is junk science and an expedition proves it true then well done to that kid! And boo hoo to everyone else