Lasers Reveal a Maya Civilization So Dense It Blew Experts Minds

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

18. Much new evidence of roads/cities being discoered in Amazonia/S America as well - what happened was

the very very 1st europeans reported cities, but disease (for which native am's had no immunity) swept through the native population ahead of the next europeans who came..... who then discounted the earlier reports as myth because they saw no cities (swallowed up by jungle within decades) and most of the native people they encountered were fugitive wandering bands without much property/material comfort. Its estimated that 90% or more of the native population was literally wiped out by disease - and thats not counting the later intentional genocidal acts.

Combine that tragedy with colonial/racist mindset ("these people are primitive/subhuman and so they deserve to have their land conquered" ) and there you have it -total ignorance about who was there first.

1491: the Americas Before Columbus is a really fun read - though prob somewhat dated by now what w/ new revelations in last few yrs. The author makes the brilliant observation that to consider Indians "savages" based on how they seemed after disease/violent attack by invaders would be like seeing european refugees during/afer world war 2 and assuming they never had culture or a civilization, and that they were incapable of ever having one.