It seems the innovative - day explorer just demand a laptop and cyberspace connection , rather than a bullwhip and a twosome of opera glasses .
Using satellite imagery , trailer , and Google Earth , archeologist have identify the website of a massive monument “ hiding in patent heap ” at thePetra Archaeological Parkin Jordan . researcher Sarah Parcak and Christopher Tuttle recently issue their findings online inThe American Schools of Oriental Research .
Petra , oncedescribedas " a rose - red metropolis one-half as old as clock time , ” dates back to the fourth hundred BCE . Much of its past is well - documented , from its descent as an early camel caravan pit stop consonant to its time under Roman rule . The World Heritage siteis one of the human beings ’s most illustrious archaeological sites and has been take by explorers since the other 19th century . So this discovery comes as a pleasant surprise to the researchers .
The archaeologists ' high - technical school centre in the sky have show that the structure is around 56 by 49 meters ( 184 by 161 feet ) . It also boast an 8.5 by 8.5 - m ( 28 by 28 substructure ) building fix on a huge plateau .
Christopher Tuttle on the web site , as it appears from ground level . G. al Faqeer .
Much of the land site still needs to be fully excavate , but the archaeologists have piece together a fair amount of the monument ’s liveliness . The discovery of clayware around the country suggests it could have been built by the Nabataeans , sometime around the second century BCE . It ’s cast and structure suggests it could have been used as a public ceremonial platform , play an crucial role in Petra ’s early history , its dabble with Christianity during the knotty period , and during the later Islamic periods .
The exciting bite about this research is the use of “ futuristic ” technique to await into the past . Not only has technology allow archeological excavations to keep open on money , Labour , and clock time , it can lead researcher to even more pernicious trace that would have antecedently seemed invisible .
talk toNational Geographic , ego - profess “ space archaeologist ” and co - generator of the studySarah Parcakexplains : " Imagery from space shows us very subtle changes at a pixel level . We accentuate those differences on artificial satellite maps by add together distinctly different colors to farmland , urban body structure , archeologic sites , vegetation , and piss . Then advanced computer algorithms tease out conflict in a constant cognitive process of nicety . These extra eyes in the sky expose an alone invisible world of lost cities . "
She impart : “ Technology of the future is helping us salvage our past . ”
A composite of drone images with architectural item highlight . I. Labianca ; nontextual matter by J. Blanzy
[ H / T : National Geographic ]
