Parcak Brings Ancient Civilizations Back to Life in Talk
When you think of the term “space archaeology,” extraterrestrial life forms and the environments of other planets may come to mind. However, space archaeology is actually a much more grounded field focused on satellite imaging to create a realistic picture of how humans lived in ancient times, how the environment changed and how it continued to change.
Sarah Parcak, a renowned Egyptologist and space archaeologist, presented a talk on Oct. 4 to a group of community members gathered in Rockefeller Center 001, graduate students and undergraduate students. Parcak has dedicated over a decade to satellite imagery and spatial analysis to the field of archaeology, and during her talk presented many examples of her personal work and a better understanding of how satellite imagery has changed the field of archaeology.
“[Remote satellite imaging allows people to] record pictures of data of wavelengths of energy outside of the visible spectrum that may reveal things that are underground,” said Jason Herrmann, a Neukom Fellow specializing in archaeology and remote sensing. “Using these kinds of technologies, Parcak was able to identify various pyramids that people had never seen that were partially buried.”
Satellite imaging, which uses light outside of the visible light spectrum to see ancient environments and structures, has become a more substantial factor in space archaeology in the past decade or so. Parcak cited the improvements in mapping technologies as a crucial step contributing to how far the field has come.
Since the first introduction of satellite imaging to archaeology, the technology has become cheaper, making it more widely available to scholars of all types. In addition, the technology has improved vastly, and the best resolution currently available is able to show features as small as 1.5 feet in size.
Herrmann also noted that Parcak herself has been an important figure in promoting the use of satellite imaging in archaeology and making it more accessible.
“[Parcak] has done a great job of bringing the power and the strengths of satellite imaging for archaeology into the forefront for not just archaeologists that want to access this method, but for the public,” Herrmann said. “Now the public engages with the strengths of what this new remote sensing, computer science-oriented archaeology can do.”
Parcak has primarily focused her work on archaeology in Egypt, but has also worked on sites in Tunisia, Italy and Romania. Parcak and her team have used satellite imaging to uncover buried structures and also map the changes in rivers over time.
In her work on the Nile River, Parcak estimated a one-kilometer shift in the Nile’s path over time. Parcak also discovered an old kingdom fort in South Sinai and, through clues from other material within it, was able to reconstruct how Egyptians might have been living in this fort at the time of the construction of the pyramids. Satellite imagery has also led to the discovery of a number of ancient Roman roads in Tunisia that were vital to trading.
Although much of Parcak’s talk was looking into the past, she sees a bright future for satellite imaging in archaeology. Technologies are continuing to advance, and WorldView-3, a satellite which should be released next year, will boast an even more precise resolution.
However, many archaeological sites in Egypt and the Middle East have been gravely damaged due to looting.
“A lot of the work now with remote sensing, especially with the Arab Spring, is looking towards preserving our shared cultural heritage, in Egypt and the Middle East in particular, where looting [has become a big issue],” Herrmann said. “These governments fall, protection for these monuments and archaeological sites is lost, and looting is wildly out of control.”
Parcak expressed concern for these looting incidents that have only become more common over the years, and estimates that there may have been up to two billion dollars lost in antiquities from the looting of sites in Egypt alone.
However, Parcak ended on a positive note, reminding the audience that although there are limitations to this technology that we must recognize, it will allow archaeologists to be more efficient and to think bigger in their questions of environments in the future.
Sarah Parcak: Archaeology from space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFC5CwZVCEw