There is, of course, another reason why the ruins from abandoned Maya cities may have lasted as long as they have – the jungle itself. Although the trees have made the ruins hard to find, they have also protected them from being built over and looted.

"There are parts of the world where people have bulldozed pyramids to use as road fill, or because they're in the way of where they want to run cattle," says Ault-Thomas. "However, it's hard to do that when there are a gazillion trees in the way."