All hail the Monkey God!

March 4, 2015 3:06 AM

Archaeologists in Honduras have discovered ruins deep in the rainforest that appear to be the fabled White City (known fancifully as "The City of the Monkey God"). Unfortunately there are deforestation threats to the site, including illegal cattle ranching.
posted by graymouser (7 comments total)

We are not actual gods per se; think of us as furry and mostly benevolent demigods..

Very cool find. It makes one wonder what else could be out there, especially in areas where the climate doesn't help preserve anything or the original inhabitants used materials not prone to preservation. Maybe one day lidar scanners will be small and cheap enough to put on all commercial aircraft and their information sent to a central database.
posted by digitalprimate at 3:51 AM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

The real story, behind all the Indiana Jones-like guff, is that this civilization further extends the area of complex cultures in Mesoamerica. Native American civilization in Central America stretched over a distance of more than a thousand miles, was pretty diverse, and we still don't have a full understanding of it.
posted by Thing at 3:53 AM on March 4, 2015 [5 favorites]

this whole situation is just so damn complex.

Deforestation is insane - says the american to the 3rd world country who we incentivize to deforest.
Protecting relics is of vital importance - but, does it bother me nearly as much as the (I assume) continued hostility towards the descendents of those who created those relics?
OMG a hidden city! Which as far as I understand, you can't throw a stone without hitting.
posted by rebent at 5:17 AM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is so cool! All I want is to find and explore ancient ruins. This is amazing! It is why I read Tintin books! It is a fantastic adventure! If someone works this into a D&D campaign I will go to there! Thanks for posting!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:15 AM on March 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

This sort of find makes me wonder if Percy Fawcett may have been right about the city of Z after all.
posted by TedW at 7:11 AM on March 4, 2015

Reading these reports, it seems like 1915 has come again and everything actual archaeologists have spent the last century learning has been swept away. ... For his doctorate, completed in 1999, Chris Begley test excavated more than a dozen of over 200 archaeological sites he documented in the region that today’s brave explorers are claiming was unknown.
posted by pwnguin at 8:58 AM on March 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

I photographed Mayan artifacts last year. There was a group of pieces with holes in them, they guy who had them didn't know what they were. He thought they went on necklaces. I pointed out they were whistles. Then I showed him how they work. One was a seated person with two or three holes, one was a monkey head, which was probably used in hunting, with the hunter learning and duplicating the calls of prey. Then the third was the head of a conquistador, which might have been for warning, say just off the tone of a common bird call. It was so wonderful to see them. There was also an interesting rolling seal, and a full on stone or hard clay flute with fogures and a pretty full music scale.

It would be so incredible to find a place with everything intact.
posted by Oyéah at 10:35 AM on March 4, 2015