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LEXINGTON, Ky.—In the May 6, 2013, issue of The New Yorker magazine, author Douglas Preston writes about the use of a new technology called lidar (light detection and ranging) that allows aerial mapping of both man-made objects and natural land forms that lie beneath dense vegetation. In the article, titled “The El Dorado machine: A new scanner’s rain-forest discoveries,” Preston first allows Transylvania anthropology professor Chris Begley to describe the rigors of the more traditional methods of mapping archaeological sites in the Honduran jungle. “It’s mountainous. There’s white water. There are jumping vipers, coral snakes, fer-de-lance, stinging plants, and biting insects. And then there are the illnesses—malaria, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, Chagas’ disease.” As one of the foremost experts on the region’s archaeological sites, Begley has bushwhacked a good bit of this formidable territory. And he understands that the introduction of this new technology could possibly save years of on-ground exploration amid punishing human hardship. “This data will certainly make it much easier for archaeologists to target their efforts, and the kinds of month-long jungle treks that I undertook over two decades can be reduced to much shorter trips targeting particular sites. This will make research in the area accessible to many more people who would not have been able to withstand the rigors of work in the area previously.” Begley has conducted ongoing research in the region, beginning in the 1990s while he was completing graduate studies at the University

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