# 48 AI agents scan public lidar — and flag an unregistered Maya site

> A non-archaeologist used 48 AI agents on public lidar data and found a Maya site missing from Mexico's register in under 72 hours.

- Org: Pietro Miotti
- Date: 2026-11-10
- Category: showcase
- Source: https://pietromiotti.com/latest/maya-site/
- Canonical page: https://ai-tldr.dev/releases/pietromiotti-ai-agents-unmapped-maya-site/

## In short

Pietro Miotti, who says he is not an archaeologist, had 48 AI agents review lidar images of about 1,200 km² of Maya-region jungle. They flagged a hilltop site with a plaza and an oval pyramid that Mexico's INAH says is not registered.

## What it is

Pietro Miotti's post 'My AI Agents Found an Unmapped Maya Site' describes a hilltop site in Mexico with a levelled plaza, an oval pyramid at least 8–12 m tall, a raised courtyard and a hollow that may be a reservoir. Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) replied that no registered archaeological site exists at the reported location.

## How it works

The lidar strips were turned into images, and 48 agents went through them one by one with a written guide, looking for pyramids, platforms and plazas while ignoring natural hills, sinkholes and roads. No special model or classifier was used. When an agent pointed out a large village that did not seem to be registered, the author checked the raw point cloud and sent INAH a Spanish report with the coordinates in a confidential annex.

## Why it matters

The search shows that off-the-shelf agents can do a first pass over large public remote-sensing datasets, from idea to an official reply in less than 72 hours. It is still only a lead: no archaeologist has checked the site in the field, and a field check needs INAH approval.

## Who it's for

people building multi-agent workflows, remote-sensing and archaeology researchers

## Links

- [Write-up](https://pietromiotti.com/latest/maya-site/)
- [HN Discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50452455)