A relatively new realm of archaeology uses technology to take the discipline out of the dirt and into the skies.
when his team found remnants of a settlement. He set out to find the edge of it, only to discover that what they thought was a small village was actually a city with an area of 10 square miles. Fisher realized that it would take the rest of his career just to survey the site.
The technology made quick work of surveying the Purépecha city. In 45 minutes of scanning, lidar was able to gather data that would have taken decades using traditional methods. The resulting 3D plot points detailed houses, roads and pyramids. Fisher, it turned out, still had a lot of career left.The basic idea is not new.
Mink works in the Grand Canyon in areas that are highly regulated, so it can be hard to get in and survey. The technology creates new access. “Satellite images can help us find locations where there might be pueblos,” he says. Being able to see beforehand exactly where you need to dig can also save time and money, both of which are scarce resources in archaeology.
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