The Why Files: Ed Barnhart on Lost Maya Cities, LiDAR, and Ancient Genius

About this episode

A jungle road, a lost Maya city, and a lifetime of hard-won archaeology reveal how much ancient civilizations still have to teach us. In this condensed version of The Why Files episode, Andrew Gentile speaks with Dr. Ed Barnhart about his Belize discovery, the realities of field archaeology, Indigenous knowledge, botflies and other jungle hazards, and why modern tools like LiDAR are transforming the search for lost cities. Barnhart explains why excavation always destroys context, how Maya society worked like a network of urban centers with markets and alliances, and why temples in Cambodia and monuments across the ancient world may encode astronomy and alignment. He also weighs bold…