I really enjoyed that. But now the church is all excited about the huge Mayan megalopolis just recently discovered. Maybe they will find something! A wheel, a steel sword, or maybe a human bone that DNA's Hebrew? My gut instinct tells me that they will be disappointed yet again. People's tithing dollars will finance a fruitless search.
Prof. Hansen, from UU, is a honcho at this site. Is he LDS?
The project is widely funded I assume, and does not rely on money from LDSInc.. TSCC has spent a lot already on archaeology in the region, and they know there's nothing there. They will not wish to spend more money on science, beyond what PR expenses are needed to spin whatever.
So, unless I am wrong, (and I will be happy to see the contribution list for the project at El Mirador proving that LDSInc. has contributed tithing to this effort), it may well be that no tithing money is being spent on this.
IMO, at this point, only the most brainwashed members are buying this Nephite city stuff.
Jeez... I have run this site, exmormon.org, since 1995. The emails I have received from Mormons on this topic have been hilarious. I wished I had saved them all, but the delete button is just too damn convenient and life is too damn short. Anyways, I have received emails that the Book of Mormon actually took place in SE Asia OR it took place in Africa. Either explanation is why we have not found remnants of Nephite civilization in the Americas. It is pure craziness. Now these recent discoveries open another opportunity for these fruitcakes. Mormons will cling to literally anything that sounds plausible no matter how remote the possibility. It does not even have to make sense. It just has to feel good.