Space Archaeology: A New Frontier of Exploration | National Geographic

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We are the detectives of the past. And we have to figure out what happened. That is what is fascinating about archaeology. Peru is super special archaeologically because this is one of the cradles of civilization. It's where civilization actually arose from nothing.

A little over 100 years ago, Hiram Bingham went to Peru and, relying on local knowledge, found this crumbling city in the middle of the rainforest. At the time, he used state-of-the-art photography equipment to record what was there. It was the first scientific archaeological expedition that National Geographic funded. And, in some ways, it helped to launch our modern age of archaeology.

So the idea of applying new state-of-the-art technology to map sites in Peru feels like a natural extension of what Hiram Bingham did over 100 years ago. One of the dreams of archaeology has always been to look from above. As drones became available, five or six years ago, archaeologists jumped at this opportunity.

Finally, we can fly above our excavations and take a picture that reveals everything that we have been seeing from below. Now, if you simply go up, up, up, into space and look down with a camera, you can at the same time look at not one square mile, but many square miles. And then you can focus on specific items that you think are important.

Space archaeology is the study and the use of satellite images for mapping ancient archaeological features and environmental features by looking at different parts of the light spectrum. We see subtle changes on the earth's surface caused by what's buried beneath.

And what satellites help us to do is pinpoint areas, and we know to within a few meters exactly where something is from thousands of miles away. We're the generation with all the tools and all the technologies to be able to map sites and protect them.

And, using these new technologies, we have a real chance to protect and preserve these sites for future generations. (light uptempo electronic music)