Richard Hansen: El Mirador, Sacred Pyramids of the Maya

Earth Ancients

Cliff Dunning

Society & Culture, Social Sciences, Science

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mirador is a critical site not only for the conservation of biodiversity, but also cultural heritage. The archaeological importance of this site was emphasized in 2021 when a 3D LiDAR survey led by Dr. Richard Hansen revealed thousands of ancient structures in 25 major cities across the landscape. Unfortunately, deforestation continues to threaten the Maya Biosphere Reserve, and its archaeological sites are threatened by looting and development. With Global Conservation’s support and matching funding from Rainforest Trust, the private nonprofit FundaEco has been working hard to stop illegal activities in Parque Nacional Mirador – Rio Azul (Mirador-Rio Azul National Park) and surrounding areas.

These efforts are being led by Francisco Asturias, Director of FundaEco Petén and the Mirador Park Rangers. These rangers are a combined team of government police and military, NGO-trained rangers, and community Ecoguards working together to stop wildlife poaching, looting of archaeological sites, illegal logging, and land clearing for cattle ranching.This land clearing is especially contentious because it supports narcotrafficking by providing a medium for money laundering, drug smuggling, and territory control.

Richard D. Hansen and Edgar Suyuc L.This book is the result of exhaustive research in the cradle of Maya civilization; the “Mirador Basin”. Dr. Hansen and Mr. Suyuc present readers with over 30 years of archaeological discoveries recovered from the depths of the Guatemalan jungle. Through vivid detail and gripping photos and graphics, Mirador tells the story of fascinating civilization of the Maya. Archaeologists Hansen and Suyuc disperse some of the mysteries surrounding the origins of Maya civilization, including the incredible rise of the Maya to a state-level empire despite the lack of nearby water sources, the enigma surrounding the construction of massive pyramids and superhighways, and the meaning behind the various works of art uncovered during excavations. Mirador invites the reader to enter the world of the ancient Maya empire guided by knowledge and expertise that only stems from true passion on behalf of the authors.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, Earth Ancians is all about touring.
0:05.0	We love to go around the world and every year we do. You know, Earth Ancians is all about touring.
0:21.4	We love to go around the world, and every year we do three tours.
0:26.8	Sometimes, well, we used to do only two, but we were trying to do three
0:30.3	so we can cover some new discoveries and see some new sites that have been uncovered.
0:36.9	And visit museums and visit special locations that are revealing themselves to us,
0:43.7	revealing through LIDAR, revealing through excavations, revealing through new knowledge.
0:49.7	And we will be going to Guatemala in December.
0:53.6	And I have been wanting to go there for over 20 years.
0:57.0	I visited when I was young and naive and I didn't get into the pyramids too much.
1:03.1	I was more just kind of a casual observer.
1:05.8	Now I am a serious observer, a podcast host, and a research investigator who spent a great deal of time
1:13.7	in Mexico and Central America with shaman, with the daykeepers, which are the calendar
1:21.5	or the calendar readers.
1:24.7	And I am all things Maya.
1:32.6	And we're going to be in Guatemala from the 1st of December through the 12th. If you stay an extra day, we will be visiting El Miodore in the
1:39.0	El Miodor Basin. And that is the focus of today's programs. Hey, guys, this is Cliff, your host of Earth Ancients, and we are meeting again with Dr.
1:50.2	Richard Hansen in Elmida to discover important new discoveries he has made.
1:57.5	I think we had him on a couple of years ago. So it's been since 20, 23, and it's always
2:07.1	fun to go there and talk to him because it's one of the largest sites that they've discovered.
2:13.1	We know that they do have the largest pyramids in the world, the LaDanta complex platform.
2:21.3	I should say it's a complex of pyramids and a couple of platforms.
	...

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