A vast network of Maya settlements built between 1,000 B.C. and 150 A.D. were recently discovered tucked away in the jungle of northern Guatemala.

Researchers were able to map the settlements using airborne laser technology that was able to show towering pyramids, palaces, ball courts and reservoirs connected by a web of causeways.

For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with Dr. Timothy Beach, a professor of geography at the University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts, although he wasn’t involved in the research.