The Bladen Legacy team was astounded by the number and size of big trees during the 2024 field season. These trees will be the focus of directed work in the upcoming 2025 field season. One particularly astonishing specimen was a large ceiba tree. Ceiba trees are important to Maya mythology and have a strong human connection in that manner, but they also grow relatively quickly so further testing is necessary to ascertain whether the ancient Maya in the Ek Xux valley saw this same tree.
Click the point cloud image below to explore the lidar point cloud around the ceiba. The photos demonstrate the size of this Ceiba relative to different team members.
