---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While doing a survey in the area, he came…"
description: "\"“While doing a survey in the area, he came across what looked like the remains of a small pre-Columbian village scattered about an ancient lava bed, ca..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/douglas-preston-7731_quote_while-doing-a-survey-in-the-area-he-came_1663004.jpg"
---

#  While doing a survey in the area, he came across what…

![“While doing a survey in the area, he came across what looked like the remains of a small pre-Columbian village scattered about an ancient lava bed, called Angamuco, once a settlement of the fierce Purépecha (Tarascan) people, who rivaled the Aztecs in central Mexico from around AD 1000 until the…” quote by Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/douglas-preston-7731_quote_while-doing-a-survey-in-the-area-he-came_1663004.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/douglas-preston-7731_quote_while-doing-a-survey-in-the-area-he-came_1663004.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/douglas-preston-7731_quote_while-doing-a-survey-in-the-area-he-came_1663004.jpg)

> ““While doing a survey in the area, he came across what looked like the remains of a small pre-Columbian village scattered about an ancient lava bed, called Angamuco, once a settlement of the fierce Purépecha (Tarascan) people, who rivaled the Aztecs in central Mexico from around AD 1000 until the arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s. “We thought we could knock out Angamuco in a week,” he recalled. “We just kept going and going and going.” It turned out to be a huge site. In 2010, Fisher used lidar to map Angamuco. The results were perhaps even more astounding than those at Caracol. The images gathered after flying over Angamuco for just forty-five minutes revealed twenty thousand previously unknown archaeological features, including a bizarre pyramid that, seen from above, is shaped like a keyhole””

[Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Surveying Angamuco showed that persistent, detailed work uncovers massive, hidden archaeological sites.

**In simple terms:** Hard work and persistence reveal hidden large-scale discoveries.

Key Takeaway

Commit to thorough, repeated investigation.

Themes

persistence exploration technology archaeology

Mood

curious inquisitive

Type

documentary exploratory

When to use this quote

- archaeological research
- historical preservation
- academic study

Key Concepts

remote sensing lidar fieldwork discovery

Questions to Reflect On

- What hidden details might you be overlooking?
- How can technology improve your fieldwork?

A Different Perspective

Time and resources may limit exhaustive mapping.

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