How 3-D Imaging Helps Archaeologists Preserve the Past | National Geographic

(Gentle instrumental music) We are in the western side of the Lambayeque Valley in the north coast of Peru. This is an area where, in the past, many, many important Pre-Columbian societies developed, particularly the Moche and the Lambayeque. This is an area that is super-interesting from many points of view: ecology, the creation of landscape, the creation of culture. And in the center of everything is this complex of pyramids called Chotuna-Chornancap.

Are we in a hurry? Yes. Damaged by water, looting, and encroachment is the biggest threat to archaeological sites all around the world. That’s why we are here in Chotuna, looking at an excavation, helping people like Carlos Wester do his work. Archaeologists have always been looking for better ways of doing their work. We’re very opportunistic. We are in the early stages of using drones for this type of work. Finally, we can fly above our excavations and take a picture that reveals everything that we have been seeing from below.

(Light instrumental music) Within a day, we can have all the pictures taken and we can have three-dimensional models. And by the next day, I will have a completely developed assessment of what to do to prevent damage produced by water. So, what one drone can do in one hour is equivalent to what we could do with traditional methods in three months. Drones only fly. They take pictures. We don’t have a real confirmation of what is below the ground, and for that, we need archaeology.

Archaeology is a destructive process. When we dig, we destroy, so we have to be extremely careful to record everything we find in the ground. We are rushing to save sites before they are destroyed. And the truth of the matter is that they are destroyed at a faster pace than we can rescue the information that they contain.

There are many reasons for studying and preserving the past. We are only the continuation of a process that started a long time ago. And many of the problems that we have today can only be solved if we look back at how we came to be the way we are.