Lidar reveals a possible blueprint for many Olmec and Maya ceremonial sites

Similar ceremonial layouts connected ancient societies across Mexico’s Gulf Coast

3-D image created using lidar data recreating a ceremonial Olmec center on Mexico's Gulf Coast, with sunrise aligned with entrance

A ceremonial complex built more than 3,000 years ago at an Olmec center on what’s now Mexico’s Gulf Coast influenced corresponding sites across the region for two millennia, remote-sensing data indicate. Remains of a ceremonial center at one of those sites, Buenavista, are shown in this 3-D image created using lidar data on the day that a sunrise aligns with the entrance.

T. Inomata

An unexpected architectural tradition linked many Olmec and Maya societies of Mesoamerica, an ancient cultural area that ran from central Mexico to Central America.