Lasers in the Maya Jungle: Discovering Lost Cities in Mexico and Central America
FYSEMR 73Z
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
Aerial born radar (LIDAR) technology has recently been deployed for discovering, mapping, dating, and assigning ethnic affiliations to major sites and cities heretofore unknown to scholars in the jungles of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. This seminar allows students to explore first-hand the revolutionary advances in the study of the origins of American civilizations at the Olmec ceremonial centers (dated 1300-600 B.C.), and view hundreds of major new towns and cities just discovered in the Maya jungle (dating from 600 B.C.- 900 A.D.). LIDAR imagery from Professor Fash's well-known site of Copan and many others in Mexico and Guatemala will be analyzed by the students for evidence of hitherto unknown archaeological roads, ceremonial centers, towns, and cities. This technology has finally laid to rest the mistaken "conclusion" by earlier archaeologists that civilization and powerful cities "could never have arisen first in the tropical forest."
Students will be discovering new features and sites with their own eyes, as we scrutinize and discuss the LIDAR imagery. That will include work in Harvard’s Visualization Laboratory where they’ll get a chance to visit what most visitors to the site of Copan will never see: the archaeological tunnels beneath the Acropolis dug by Professor Fash, through LIDAR videos made by Luke Hollis. They’ll also analyze objects from the ancient cities during the seminar sessions, from the priceless collections of the Peabody Museum in class and on display in the 3rd and 4th floor galleries. There will also be a 'field trip' to Harvard’s Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C. to see some of the most beautiful works of Olmec and Maya art ever created. The new discoveries of both LIDAR and the decipherment of the Olmec and Maya writing systems make this a transformative time in this highly visible field that students can explore for themselves through a variety of means via this seminar.
This seminar will allow students to “learn by doing,” both with ceramics and other artifacts from the Peabody Museum’s collections that we will be working with in the Mesoamerican Laboratory with Dr. Jenny Carballo, and also with digital images on-screen of LIDAR imagery and videos and prints of selected 3D site maps. The familiarity students will gain with ceramics and artifacts will mean they will have a wonderful time viewing the priceless collections of Olmec and Maya artworks at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections in Washington, D.C., in October 2026.
NOTE: This seminar includes a one-day trip to Dumbarton Oaks in Washington D.C. on October 16, 2026.
POST-SEMINAR MODULE - Students who do well in the seminar will be invited to visit the beautiful Classic Maya site of Copan, Honduras January 15-22 (J Term), where I have been conducting research (including LIDAR) for many years now. There will be no cost to students.
Class Notes
First-Year Seminars are available only to first-year students. You may apply to both Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 First-Year Seminars via the FYS lottery between July 6 and August 6, 2026 at 11:59PM-midnight.
You may apply to as many seminars each term as you would like, but we recommend you apply to at least six in fall and three in spring.
As part of your application, you must provide a brief statement on why you are interested in each seminar. You will be notified of lottery results for both fall and spring seminars at 5 pm on August 11. If you are unsuccessful in the lottery, you may still join any seminar with open seats. A list of open seminars and instructions on next steps will be available on the First-Year Seminar Program website August 11 at 12 Noon.
Not Available for Cross Registration
