= New World Archaeological Evidence for the Book of Mormon"

The central challenge of finding definitive archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon in the Americas is that we have no Rosetta Stone-style reference point that allows us to specifically identify any Lehite or Jaredite sites.

What would be the difference, for instance, between a Mayan bowl or a Nephite bowl? What would distinguish a Lamanite brick from an Aztec brick? How many Mayan roads, armors, or swords say “Property of the Mayan” on them? Any cultural impact of a Nephite, Lamanite, or Jaredite civilization would be impossible to verify based on examining ancient artifacts, regardless of how many may have survived.

However, as reported by National Geographic,LiDAR (short for “Light Detection And Ranging”) technology has revealed that the pre-Columbian civilization that was far more complex and interconnected than most Maya specialists had supposed.

From National Geographic:

“The LiDAR images make it clear that this entire region was a settlement system whose scale and population density had been grossly underestimated,” said Thomas Garrison, an Ithaca College archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer who specializes in using digital technology for archaeological research."

This is why it’s never wise to jump to a final conclusion on New World archaeology. The whole field can be rewritten in an instant with a new discovery like this one.