Laser Beams Penetrating Thick Canopy Detect Thousands of New Structures, Show Maya Adept at 'Buildi

[Judi Lynn]

Laser Beams Penetrating Thick Canopy Detect Thousands of New Structures, Show Maya Adept at 'Building Green'

ScienceDaily (May 12, 2010) — A flyover of Belize's thick jungles has revolutionized archaeology worldwide and vividly illustrated the complex urban centers developed by one of the most-studied ancient civilizations -- the Maya.

University of Central Florida researchers led a NASA-funded research project in April 2009 that collected the equivalent of 25 years worth of data in four days.

Aboard a Cessna 337, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) equipment bounced laser beams to sensors on the ground, penetrating the thick tree canopy and producing images of the ancient settlement and environmental modifications made by the inhabitants of the Maya city of Caracol within 200 square kilometers (77 square miles).

UCF anthropology professors Arlen and Diane Chase have directed archaeological excavations at Caracol for more than 25 years. The hard work of machete-wielding research scientists and students has resulted in the mapping of some 23 square kilometers (9 square miles) of ancient settlement.

The NASA technology aboard the Cessna saw beyond the rainforest and detected thousands of new structures, 11 new causeways, tens of thousands of agricultural terraces and many hidden caves -- results beyond anyone's imagination. The data also confirm the size of the city (spread over 177 square kilometers or 68 square miles) and corroborate the Chases' previous estimates for the size of the population (at least 115,000 people in A.D. 650).

More:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100511111935.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

http://www.belizex.com.nyud.net:8090/images/maya/caracol7-25.jpg http://z.about.com.nyud.net:8090/d/honeymoons/1/5/F/C/3BZ_Caracol2.jpg

http://www.sacred-destinations.com.nyud.net:8090/belize/images/caracol/resized/view-ccc-rharrison-p.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com.nyud.net:8090/3214/3131018623_fd5c823bfe.jpg

[Judi Lynn]

1. Caracol Archaeological Project

Caracol Archaeological Project
CITY LIVING A plaza in Caracol, a Maya city in Belize. Jungles surrounding it were penetrated
using a new method, lidar.

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Published: May 10, 2010

http://graphics8.nytimes.com.nyud.net:8090/images/2010/05/11/science/11maya1-cnd/11maya1-cnd-articleLarge.jpg

For a quarter of a century, two archaeologists and their team slogged through wild tropical vegetation to investigate and map the remains of one of the largest Maya cities, in Central America. Slow, sweaty hacking with machetes seemed to be the only way to discover the breadth of an ancient urban landscape now hidden beneath a dense forest canopy.

Even the new remote-sensing technologies, so effective in recent decades at surveying other archaeological sites, were no help. Imaging radar and multispectral surveys by air and from space could not “see” through the trees.

Then, in the dry spring season a year ago, the husband-and-wife team of Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase tried a new approach using airborne laser signals that penetrate the jungle cover and are reflected from the ground below. They yielded 3-D images of the site of ancient Caracol, in Belize, one of the great cities of the Maya lowlands.

In only four days, a twin-engine aircraft equipped with an advanced version of lidar (light detection and ranging) flew back and forth over the jungle and collected data surpassing the results of two and a half decades of on-the-ground mapping, the archaeologists said. After three weeks of laboratory processing, the almost 10 hours of laser measurements showed topographic detail over an area of 80 square miles, notably settlement patterns of grand architecture and modest house mounds, roadways and agricultural terraces.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/science/11maya.html?ref=world

[protocol rv]

2. Green?

I saw the movie "Apocalipto", it sure didn't look like those Mayas were very green. How come their civilization collapsed the way it did?

[Judi Lynn]

3. My goodness, can it be this late? Looks as if the blowhards have arrived already.

I will return later. Things to do.

[protocol rv]

4. Did you go watch Apocalipto?

:P

[Judi Lynn]

5. No, it was the terrifying, heart-pounding "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Very complex plot.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_2yNfAEReZSQ/SYcfbAXlyMI/AAAAAAAABaQ/pydOxcs-0gU/s320/05+Plan+9+from+Outer+Space.jpg http://www.omenaheights.com.nyud.net:8090/plan_9_salute.jpg

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[protocol rv]

6. My favorite movie

I always wanted to drive one of those flying saucers, and wear a fancy shiny suit. But my family wouldn't let me become a spaceman, they wanted somebody to handle real life, so they turned me into a commercial type. :eyes:

[Judi Lynn]

7. Airborne Lasers Create 3D Images of Ancient, Modern Landscapes

Airborne Lasers Create 3D Images of Ancient, Modern Landscapes
Analysis by Tracy Staedter
Thu May 13, 2010 10:33 AM ET

In places like Belize and Cambodia, dense jungle and underbrush make it difficult for archaeologist to map the remains of ancient civilizations. It can take decades to piece together an image of ancient foundations, roadways or other structures. But one technology primarily used by ecologists and biologists to analyze vegetation cuts through jungle growth and produces detailed, three-dimensional views of landscapes in a matter of hours.

The technology is called LiDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging. It works something like radar and sonar, but instead of using radio or sound waves, it uses light, or laser signals. It can be flown from onboard an airplane, which passes back and forth, lawnmower style, over the area to be mapped. The laser shines millions of pulses of light onto the landscape, some of which bounce off of trees, shrubs, grass, hills, and rocks, and then reflect back to a sensor on the plane. The minute differences in height of the vegetation -- down to about an inch -- change the time it takes the light to reflect back. That difference is recorded by the sensor and then a computer program turns it into an image.

"You can literally peel away the vegetation," said assistant professor of archaeology Sarah Parcak, director of the Laboratory for Global Health Observation at the University of Alabama and expert in remote sensing technology.

More:
http://news.discovery.com/tech/airborne-lasers-create-3d-images-of-ancient-modern-landscapes.html