Mormon said that when he went southward from the land northward as a child he saw that "the whole face of the land had become covered with buildings, and the people were as numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea" (Mormon 1:7). According to Jerry Ainsworth, that description--for that time period (about A.D. 322)--coincides only with Central America, where the massive ruins of contiguous cities runs for hundreds of miles. No archaeological sites have been found within the boundaries of North and South America that qualify for Mormon's description of that time and place. One has only to visit the lowlands of southern Mexico and northern Guatemala to appreciate the magnitude of their ancient civilizations and to realize how few of their sites have been excavated. Today, entire metropolises lie hidden in huge tracts of jungle, seemingly as if they never existed. Where else do we find concrete evidence of anything comparable? [Jerry L. Ainsworth, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, pp. 42, 155]
Mormon 1:7 The whole face of the land had been covered with buildings, and the people were as numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea ([Illustration]): (79) Painting of a section of El Mirador, an ancient city in the northern part of Guatemala (Zarahemla). "The whole face of the land had become covered with buildings, and the people were as numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea" (Mormon 1:7. Used by permission of the National Geographic Society. [Jerry L. Ainsworth, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, p. 155]
Mormon 1:7 The whole face of the land had been covered with buildings, and the people were as numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea ([Illustration]): (81) Painting of a section of Tikal, a large ancient city in the northern (Peten) section of Guatemala (Zarahemla). [Jerry L. Ainsworth, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, p. 157]