While not particularly an expert on the Maya, let me try to take a shot at your question.

To respond to your question, sensationalism apart, first let me say the city that they are referring (Tikal) has been known and studied for quite a long time. The so-called game changer find is the use of new technology to speed up the process of what archaeologists called survey, allowing us to get a high-resolution map that otherwise would have taken a long time to produce. So rather than a scientific find, it is more like the use of a technology (that has been already been used for a couple of years in other archaeological sites) on a site that has the potential to yield great insights into Maya urbanism because it was one of the most important cities during the Classic period. The work is just barely beginning, and I think that people are getting caught up in the wow factor of the news, and reasonably so because of the way of how people are reporting the news.

Now, to answer your question, the Mayas of Tikal used a series of highly ingenious techniques in order to maximize the productivity output of their environment. First, in terms of agroforestry, based on archaeological charcoal remains found in middens (garbage dumps) and structures, it seems as if the Maya were micro-managing the forest by harvesting mature trees for construction or fuel purposes thus letting the younger trees reach maturity. This would have allow then to maintain a level of healthy forest along with all the resources that come with that, including animal protein and wild plants.

Second, agriculturally speaking, it seems as if Tikal Mayas were using a system of orchard-like garden agriculture along with a very meticulously managed short fallow system for their main crops, maize, squash, and beans. Not it is often assume that this were the only plants that were being cultivated, but upon closer look at seeds, phytoliths, core samples, and macro-botanical remains, we can see a great deal of fruit trees including coyul, sapote, jocote, avocado, and cacao. Furthermore, while not particularly identified at Tikal, Mayas in adjacent areas were also intensively cultivating root crops including sweet potato, achira, and malanga. Thus it is very likely that Tikal Mayas were also cultivating them along with the already mentioned crops. While some people have suggested that a short-fallow system could not have been sustainable to maintain high levels of yield productions, sediment evidence suggest that people at Tikal were artificially inflating soil nutrients by regularly depositing volcanic ash. This constant deposition of ash would have helped them maintain intensive framing practices for extended periods.

The Mayas at Tikal also created complex water managements systems that included canals to channel the water into great man made reservoirs like the Perdido Reservoir or the Temple reservoir that could have allows them to double-cropped areas adjacent the bodies of water allowing them to obtain a second harvest.

Finally, the question of trade is always brought about because according to some people staples crops could not have been traded more than 275 km based on what a person could have walked in a week. However, the nature of trade is a hot topic for debate, since we know that there were major things that were moving from and to Tikal, like all of the volcanic ash or ground stone that is coming from the mountains in the lowlands, or the shell coming from the coast. To be honest, I tend to side with the people, like Masson and Friedel (2012), that do suggest a well-developed long and short distance market system for Tikal. Now the nature of who controls, or sponsors, this trade is also very debatable, and I think that the once the LiDAR project gets to work on testing areas beyond the city center (where most of the archaeological record has actually happen), they will be on better footing of telling us more about market exchange at Tikal.

• Masson, Marilyn and David Friedel 2012. An Argument for Classic Era Maya Market exchange. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.