Newly discovered Paracas
geoglyphs, ancient-origins.com.
Public domain.
Exciting
new discoveries in archaeological survey, and rock art recording, are being made
possible by the development of video and photographic drones. Recent online articles
in Live Science and National Geographic News have documented
the use of drone photography to record inaccessible rock art panels and
geoglyphs. In the coastal Peruvian desert near the Nazca lines a number of new
geoglyphs have been discovered with drone imaging, and an enormous rock art
panel in Venezuela was recorded by drone as well.
Newly discovered Paracas
geoglyphs, ancient-origins.com.
Public domain.
The story
of the newly discovered geoglyphs in the Palpa province of Peru began in
December 2014 "when the
environmental organization Greenpeace placed a huge sign calling for renewable
energy next to the Nazca hummingbird design National Geographic reported.
Greenpeace didn't have permission to enter the World Heritage Site and ended up
damaging it." (Geggel 2018)
"Following the incident (for
which Greenpeace later apologized), Peru received a grant from the United
States to help restore its archaeology by hiring Peruvian archaeologist Johny
Isla, the Nazca Line's chief restorer and protector, National Geographic said.
Given that not all of Peru's archaeological sites have been mapped from the
air, Isla and Peruvian archaeologist Luis Jaime Castillo Butters, of the
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who co-discovered the new glyphs,
partnered with Sarah Parcak, a space archaeologist and founder of the Laboratory
for Global Observation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to do
so." (Geggel
2018)
"After winning the TED Prize in
2016, Parcak founded the GlobalXplorer initiative, which trains citizen
scientists to analyze satellite imagery for archaeological sites and signs of
looting. The platform's first project invited volunteers to look at satellite
photos of Peru." (Greshko
2018)
Newly discovered Paracas
geoglyphs, Public domain.
"Parcak uses aerial photography
from drones and satellites to discover and examine archaeological sites. In
Peru, Parcak's team used drones, which took images in 2017 that helped the
archaeologists discover the new lines." (Geggel 2018) This innovative project used drone
photography to make new discoveries in areas that were suspected of holding
geoglyphs, in Venezuela drones were used to record rock art that was previously
known, but was hard to reach or inaccessible.
Venezuelan mountainside petroglyphs
(computer enhanced),
nationalgeographic.com,
Public domain.
"Ancient rock art isn't always
easy to reach, but a researcher in Venezuela has solved this challenge with a
bit of modern technology. A camera - equipped drone that zipped across a rocky,
watery landscape to photograph ancient artwork depicting people, cultural
rituals and animals, a new study reports." (Geggel 2017)
Venezuelan petroglyphs
(computer enhanced),
www.ucl.ac.uk,
Public domain.
"The drone-recorded engravings,
in addition to more accessible rock art along the Orinoco River in western
Venezuela, are some of the largest rock engravings found anywhere in the world,
the researcher said. One panel is more than 3,200 square feet (304 square
meters) and has 93 engravings. Another engraving portrays a 98-foot-long (30 m)
horned snake."
(Geggel 2017)
"The engravings appear to date
to pre-Columbian (before 1492) and colonial times (1492 to the 19th century),
said the study's author Philip Riris, an archaeologist at University College
London in the United Kingdom. Some may be up to 2,000 years old, he
noted."
(Geggel 2017)
So modern
drone technology not only proved useful in discovering rock art, but also in
photographing and recording it. Not bad.
NOTE:
Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for
public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public
domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner
will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should
read the originals at the sites listed below.
REFERENCES:
Geggel,
Laura,
2017 Ancient Rock Art Mapped in Amazing Detail,
Revealing 100-Foot Snake, Live Science,
December 11, 2017,
https://www.livescience.com/61155-drone-maps-ancient-rock-art-venezuala.html
Geggel,
Laura,
2018 Sprawling, 2,000-Year-Old Desert Carvings Show
Up in Drone Photos,
Live Science, April 6, 2018, https://www.livescience.com/62238-new-nazca-lines-discovered.html
Greshko,
Michael
2018 Exclusive: Massive Ancient Drawings Found in
Peruvian Desert,National Geographic News,
April 5, 2018,
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/new-nasca-nazca-lines-discovery-peru-archaeology/
nationalgeographic.com
www.ancient-origins.com.
www.ucl.ac.uk
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