15-Year-Old Canadian Boy Just Discovered an Ancient Mayan City
So what did you do today? Fifteen-year-old William Gadoury of Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Quebec, discovered an abandoned Mayan city after analyzing constellations, no big deal. And because when you discover an ancient city, you get to name it. Gadoury is calling the city "K'àak Chi," which translates to "Fire Mouth."
Gadoury noticed the ancient Mayan people appeared to develop their cities based on the stars in the sky, and decided to test his theory. After covering a star chart depicting several constellations over a map of the Yucatan peninsula, located in southeastern Mexico, he discovered a correlation that no other scientist has thus far made known: The ancient Mayans built their cities based on the locations of the constellations.
"I did not understand why the Mayan built their cities away from rivers, on infertile lands and in the mountains," Gadoury told the Journal de Montréal. "[They] had to have another reason, and as they worshiped the stars, the idea came to me to verify my hypothesis. I was really surprised and excited when I realized that the most brilliant stars of the constellations matched the largest Mayan cities."
After discovering that his hypothesis was correct, the teen found that 117 Mayan cities have a direct correlation to the stars in over 20 constellations. However, he soon realized that one city appeared to be missing and deduced that the uncovered city is in Belize, a country located on the eastern coast of Central America.
With the help of satellite imagery from the Canadian Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA, the teenager identified one of the "five largest Mayan cities" ever discovered, according to the Journal de Montréal.
No one has visited the newly discovered site yet because these expeditions can be costly, according to Armand LaRocque, a remote sensing expert based out of the University of New Brunswick. "It's always a question of money. An expedition is horribly expensive." he told the Journal. But the plan is to bring Gadoury with them on a trip to the location one day.
"That would be the culmination of my three years of work and my life's dream," the young explorer told the Journal. Gadoury plans on attending the 2017 International Science Fair to showcase his findings, according to BBC News.
