- A new customized drone fitted with a heat-sensing camera has revealed presence of ceremonial pits and other features of an ancient village in New Mexico under layers of sediments and sagebrush throwing light on the mysteries buried under eroding desert landscapes from the American Southwest to the Middle East.
- These inexpensive drones, starting at about $3,700, enable high resolution images from a particular altitude and angle at any time of the day and under a range of weather conditions allowing the determination of landscapes and features buried underneath.
- Archaeologists tested these in a secluded area of north-western New Mexico, south of Chaco Canyon which was in the ancient past a cultural and religious centre of ancient Puebloan society.
- In Blue J, a village in this area which was active around the same time as Chaco, was found 2 households but the major portion was still to be unearthed. Presence of structures such as kivas and great houses would reinforce the theory which believes Chaco’s influence to be widespread.
- Kivas are circular, subterranean meeting places associated with ceremonial activities. Great houses were massive multi-storey stone buildings, some of which were oriented to solar and lunar directions and offered lines of sight between buildings to allow for communication. Although invisible, these structures could be excavated using information from the drone.
- This greatly reduces the time required to see what is below the surface and may be used in Saudi Arabia and Cyprus, where the temperature difference between day and night will allow the heat signatures of buried stone structures or other features to produce the thermal images.
- A lost Spanish fort in Georgia and along the banks of Florida’s St. Johns River may also be searched for.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/drones-unearth-more-details-about-chaco-culture/article5939040.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Thermal Gradient
- Advantages of Drones
- Drones
- Infrared Cameras