Archaeology

Ultimately, while many rely on the promise within the book itself, "I believe that seeking a spiritual witness is about expanding our knowledge through both study and faith." For a long time, the standard archaeological view was that ancient American civilizations were relatively small and isolated. However, new laser technology (LiDAR) has "stripped away" the jungle canopy to reveal over 60,000 previously unknown structures. This discovery has reshaped the world’s knowledge in several ways:

Here is some of the context that is helpful regarding the points:

• Horses and Elephants: While it was once a "glaring absence," we now have knowledge of ancient horses and elephant-like species (mammoths and mastodons) that lived in the Americas. While the standard view is they went extinct around 10,000 BC, recent carbon-14 dating on horse remains in Mexico and North America has produced dates as recent as 2500 BC and even AD 1400. This suggests these species may have persisted in smaller, isolated pockets far longer than previously thought.
• Chariots and Wheels: The Book of Mormon never actually describes them having wheels or being used in battle—we often just visualize them that way. Archaeologists have discovered "wheeled toys" in Mexico, proving that pre-Columbian cultures understood the principle of the wheel, despite the absence of large-scale working wheels. Some scholars suggest "chariot" could also refer to royal litters or other conveyances.
• Absence of Evidence: It’s true that much hasn’t been found, but archaeology is a limited tool. In the humid, acidic soil of Mesoamerica, organic remains like bone or silk rarely survive for more than a few centuries. Even for well-documented groups like the Huns, who were a massive horse-based culture, archaeological evidence of their horses is surprisingly scarce.
• Linguistic Shifts: The idea of "loan-shifting"—calling a new animal by a familiar name—isn't just a theory; it's a documented historical pattern. For example, the Greeks called the hippopotamus a "river horse," and many Native American tribes called the first European horses they saw "deer."

• Population Density: Experts have revised population estimates from a few million up to 10–15 million people in the Maya Lowlands. This massive "sand of the sea" population density is exactly what the Book of Mormon describes.
• Infrastructure: We now have knowledge of a vast network of "highways cast up" (sacbeob), some extending for miles and elevated to remain functional during rainy seasons. These structures were previously invisible to archaeologists who walked directly over them.
• Widespread Warfare: You mentioned a lack of support for the book's claims of large-scale conflict. LiDAR has revealed an "ubiquity of defensive walls, ramparts, and fortresses" that researchers say indicates systematic, large-scale warfare was the norm for centuries.
• Lost Cities: Perhaps most importantly, these findings prove that an entire "megalopolis" can be "hidden in plain sight" for over a thousand years, even in areas that have been heavily studied for decades. 

• "Highways Cast Up": In 3 Nephi 6:8, the record mentions "there were many highways cast up, and many roads made." For years, critics argued that the ancient Americas didn't have such an infrastructure. Our current knowledge from LiDAR reveals a massive system of sacbeob (raised causeways) that were literally "cast up" using stone and plaster fill to stay above the jungle floor—linking cities across hundreds of miles.
• Fortifications and Places of Resort: The Book of Alma (chapters 48-53) describes Moroni’s military innovations: "throwing up banks of earth," "building walls of stone," and creating "places of resort." LiDAR has recently identified exactly these types of defensive features—ditches, ramparts, and sophisticated citadel-like structures—showing that warfare was far more organized and defensive than previously assumed.
• The "Land Northward" and "Southward": The scale of these newly discovered urban centers fits the description of a land "covered with buildings" (Mormon 1:7). We now have knowledge that these civilizations weren't just small tribal groups but massive, interconnected societies with the logistics to support the large-scale movements described in the text.
• Widespread Use: Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, particularly around the first century BC (the same timeframe as the Book of Helaman), were incredibly proficient with lime cement. They used it for floors, walls, and even to coat entire pyramids.
• Technological Sophistication: The cement they produced was often of higher quality than what was used in Europe at the same time. This matches the scriptural description of them being "expert" in its use.
• The "Land Without Timber": The text specifically notes they used cement because the land northward was "destitute of timber." This is highly consistent with the massive deforestation that occurred in ancient Maya regions due to the immense amount of wood required to burn limestone to create cement.