A legendary “White City,” or City of the Monkey God, potentially 1,000 years old, has eerily materialized in the dense jungles of Honduras. For centuries, explorers and archaeologists fruitlessly searched for this mythical city, but now, cutting-edge laser satellite technology has revealed its ghostly remains.
The discovery was made in the vast, pristine rainforest of La Mosquitia, Honduras, an area spanning 3,500 square kilometers. Satellite laser surveys uncovered mysterious remnants that align remarkably with ancient descriptions of the lost city. Explorer Doug Elkins and his team, comprising scientists, adventurers, and military support from various nations, suspect this location is indeed the fabled White City, now facing threats from illegal logging and wildlife trafficking.
A documentary on the Science Channel detailed how scientists combined clues from ground expeditions with extensive LIDAR (laser imaging, detection, and ranging) aerial surveys. This advanced technique allowed them to peer through the thick jungle canopy and identify structures and artifacts long swallowed by the forest, believed to belong to a 1,000-year-old indigenous civilization.
The initial discovery was a colossal stone carving depicting a masked man holding a staff and a bag, found in a rainforest so dense that visibility was limited to under six meters. Subsequently, LIDAR technology unveiled “ghostly” outlines of pyramid-like structures, terraced fields, plazas, and canals. Dr. Oscar Castro, head of archaeology at the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH), dates these structures to 1,000-1,400 years old. Efforts are now underway to access and directly excavate the site.
Previous expeditions, like American explorer Theodore Morde’s in 1940, claimed to have found the White City and returned with thousands of artifacts. However, Morde’s team and subsequent groups failed to identify permanent structures that would conclusively prove the existence of a city.
Legend describes the White City as featuring tall, white stone pillars and colossal temples also built from white stone, along with a massive statue of the Monkey God. This rich mythology has inspired numerous books and films, including Disney’s The Jungle Book. Despite its allure, the city’s purported location in a virtually impenetrable primary forest made satellite surveying difficult and ground access perilous, leading to many failed expeditions and even fatalities in the quest for this mythical place.
What do you find most intriguing about this ancient discovery?
