“Although you could reach the site using a footpath, it was covered by a canopy of trees. Until very recently, there would have been no way for anyone to discover the full extent of the site without spending years on the ground walking and searching. We were able to do it within two hours by using remote sensing equipment and scanning from a plane,” he says.
A city lost in time
Guiengola’s ruins were covered with dense vegetation, making traditional archaeological surveys impossible. Ramón Celis used lidar, a method that employs light detection and ranging digitally, aiding in reaching beneath the foliage and unveiling the entire extent of the city.