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Lost Maya Ruins Found (From Space) |
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Written by Xiuhcoatl
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Feb 15, 2006 at 02:02 PM |
NASA, UNH Scientists Uncover Lost Maya Ruins – from Space
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Science News
Keywords: MAYA, REMOTE SENSING, ARCHAEOLOGY, SPACE, SATELLITE IMAGES, GUATEMALA
Description
NASA and University of New Hampshire scientists are using space- and
aircraft-based "remote-sensing" technology to uncover remains of the
ancient Maya culture using the chemical signature of the civilization's
ancient building materials.
Newswise — Remains of the ancient Maya culture, mysteriously destroyed
at the height of its reign in the ninth century, have been hidden in
the rainforests of Central America for more than 1,000 years. Now, NASA
and University of New Hampshire scientists are using space- and
aircraft-based "remote-sensing" technology to uncover those ruins,
using the chemical signature of the civilization's ancient building
materials.
NASA archaeologist Tom Sever and scientist Dan Irwin, both from NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are teaming with
William Saturno, an archaeologist at the University of New Hampshire,
to locate the ruins of the ancient culture. Saturno discovered the
oldest known intact Maya mural at the site in 2001.
“From the air, everything but the tops of very few surviving pyramids
are hidden by the tree canopy," said Sever, widely recognized for two
decades as a pioneer in the use of aerospace remote-sensing for
archaeology. "On the ground, the 60- to 100-foot trees and dense
undergrowth can obscure objects as close as 10 feet away. Explorers can
stumble right through an ancient city that once housed thousands – and
never even realize it.”
Sever has explored the capacity of remote sensing technology and the
science of collecting information about the Earth’s surface using
aerial or space-based photography to serve archeology. He and Irwin
provided Saturno with high-resolution commercial satellite images of
the rainforest, and collected data from NASA’s Airborne Synthetic
Aperture Radar, an instrument flown aboard a high-altitude weather
plane, capable of penetrating clouds, snow and forest canopies.
These resulting Earth observations have helped the team survey an
uncharted region around San Bartolo, Guatemala. They discovered a
correlation between the color and reflectivity of the vegetation seen
in the images – their "signature," which is captured by instruments
measuring light in the visible and near-infrared spectrums – and the
location of known archaeological sites.
In 2004, the team ground-tested the data. Hiking deep into the jungle
to locations guided by the satellite images, they uncovered a series of
Maya settlements exactly where the technology had predicted they would
be found. Integrating cutting-edge remote sensing technology as a vital
research tool enabled the scientists to expand their study of the
jungle.
The cause of the floral discoloration discerned in the imagery quickly
became clear to the team. The Maya built their cities and towns with
excavated limestone and lime plasters. As these structures crumbled,
the lack of moisture and nutritional elements inside the ruins kept
some plant species at bay, while others were discolored or killed off
altogether as disintegrating plaster changed the chemical content of
the soil around each structure.
"Over the centuries, the changes became dramatic," Saturno said. "This
pattern of small details, impossible to see from the forest floor or
low-altitude planes, turned out to be a virtual roadmap to ancient Maya
sites when seen from space."
Under a NASA Space Act Agreement with the University of New Hampshire,
the science team will visit Guatemala annually through 2009, with the
support of the Guatemalan Institute of Anthropology and History and the
Department of Pre-Hispanic Monuments. The team will verify their
research and continue refining their remote sensing tools to more
easily lead explorers to other ancient ruins and conduct Earth science
research in the region.
"Studies such as these do more than fulfill our curiosity about the
past," Sever said. "They help us prepare for our own future."
Scientists believe the Maya fell prey to a number of cataclysmic
environmental problems, including deforestation and drought, which led
to their downfall, Irwin said. "The world continues to battle the
devastating effects of drought today, from the arid plains of Africa to
the southern United States," he said. "The more we know about the
plight of the Maya, the better our chances of avoiding something
similar."
Another aspect of the research involved using climate models to
determine the effects of Maya-driven deforestation on ancient
Mesoamerican climate. The goal of this effort was to determine whether
deforestation can lead to droughts and if the activities of the ancient
Maya drove the environmental changes that undermined their civilization.
Extending benefits of remote-sensing technologies is part of NASA’s
Earth-Sun System Division. NASA is conducting a long-term research
effort to learn how natural and human-induced changes affect the global
environment, and to provide critical benefits to society today.
Sever and Irwin conduct research at National Space Science and
Technology Center in Huntsville, a joint science venture between NASA’s
Marshall Center, Alabama universities, industry and federal agencies.
For more information about its work, visit: http://www.nsstc.nasa.gov
© 2006 Newswise. All Rights Reserved. |
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Archaeology 