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Geologists in northern Guatemala have discovered a massive Maya site that stretches approximately 650 square miles and dates to the Middle and Late Preclassic period (roughly 1000 B.C. to 250 B.C.). The findings were the result of an aerial survey that researchers conducted via airplane using lidar (light detection and ranging), in which lasers are beamed out and the reflected light is used to create aerial imagery of a landscape. Using data from the scans, the team identified more than 1,000 settlements dotting the region, which were interconnected by 100 miles of causeways that the Maya likely traversed on foot.