The Lost City of the Monkey God
A True Story
by Douglas Preston · first published 2017
5mentions
4recommended by
4HN commenters
2017–2023first – last mentioned
100% recommend
Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God--but then committed suicide without revealing its loca
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I'm reading "Lost City of the Monkey God" by Douglas Preston right now. It's been a highly entertaining first-hand account of (what I think was) the first use of LIDAR for archaeology in the jungles of Central America, and the ground exploration…
on “Sprawling Mayan network discovered under Guatemala jungle” ↗…evolution and dovetailed with some of the reading I had been doing around that subject. 4. The Science of Navigation: delved into the wonder of current navigational technology and how we got to here. 5. The Lost City of the Monkey God: bought on a lark, made me realize that archaeology can still find new things nowadays. 6. Island of the Lost: historical account of two shipwrecks on the same island at the same time that knew nothing…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2017?” ↗There was a good book about a recent discovery a few years ago, Lost City of the Monkey God. The locals had stories about some city in the jungle. The team managed to find it with LIDAR, but it was a slow, difficult process. They then had to land in fairly distant clearing and hike to the location.…
on “Ancient Maya City Was Hidden in the Jungle for More Than 1k Years” ↗LIDAR is really cool. The coolest use I know of is that a man named Steve Elkins used it in Honduras to discover lost ancient archaeological sites a few years ago. If you're interested read The Lost City of the Monkey God, it will blow your hair back.
on “Lidar mapping techniques using multiple sensors” ↗“The Lost City of the Monkey God” is an absolutely fantastic read if you’re interested in the usage of LiDAR for archeological discovery.
on “Lidar reveals hundreds of long-lost Maya and Olmec ceremonial centers” ↗