Expert answer:Archaeology 2-3 paper.

Solved by verified expert:Instructions A variety of articles that you can use to write the paper, the articles are attached. Format. Your answers must be: (1) in essay form, (2) 2.5–3 typewritten pages, (3) double-spaced, (4) 12 point font, Times New Roman, (5) 1 inch margins all around, (6) include page numbers, and (7) no references cited is needed—do mention when you cite “Kelly/Thomas” or “class notes” and add page numbers when necessary. Plagiarism. It is imperative that you write in your own words! If you closely paraphrase a sentence provide the page number, and if you cite something directly from the text use quotes and provide the page number. Do not copy sections of the article or the text into your essay – write in your own words. Avoiding Plagiarism 1) Address the following. (20 points, 40%) Describe the topic/main points of the article. Describe what you learned that was new about the topic of your chosen article.Describe why you liked or chose the topic. 2) Bring in ideas from the Kelly/Thomas text. This is the text link ( https://books.google.com/books?id=k4lTCwAAQBAJ&pri… ) (5 points, 10%) 3) Present your point of view based on a critical understanding and analysis of the article. (20 points, 40%) Describe your point of view on the topic/article you read. Have you observed, experienced, or know of anything similar to what the writer presents in the article? 4) Proofread your essay for spelling, grammar, and syntax errors. (5 points, 10%)IF you have any questions ask me please !
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Title: SPACE AGE ARCHAEOLOGY , By: El-Baz, Farouk, Scientific American,
00368733, Aug97, Vol. 277, Issue 2
Database: Academic Search Elite
SPACE AGE ARCHAEOLOGY
Contents
A Very
Recent
History
Uncanny
Promise
Back Down
to Earth
The Craft of
Conservation
Remote
Sensing
from Space…
Remote-sensing techniques are transforming archaeology.
Excavations may become less essential as researchers explore
hidden sites and examine buried artifacts without unearthing
them
The Empty Quarter of Arabia, or Ar Rub’al-Khali, is truly
deserted. Covering some 777,000 square kilometers, this
wasteland is infamous as a harsh environment, devoid of life.
Lore has it, however, that the region hosted much kinder
conditions in the recent past. Travelers are told of the lost city of
Ubar, a legendary oasis along the frankincense trade route that
the Koran describes as the “City of Pillars.” T. E. Lawrence
(perhaps better known as Lawrence of Arabia) himself hoped to
find this “Atlantis of the Sands” but was unable to–and the
search continues today.
. . . and on
Earth
The quest for Ubar recently made progress when images from a
space shuttle and from Landsat satellites revealed an array of
Further
thin lines converging to a point nestled among the 200-meterReading
high dunes of this mysterious desert. Researchers looking at the
pictures theorized that the hub of the ghostly spokes might be a cemetery or a city-and the hunt for Ubar was on again. Expeditions were mounted in 1990 and 1991,
and excavations along a road are now unearthing the long-concealed structures of a
walled city.
On the other side of the world, advanced technology has led scientists to the remains
of a very different ancient era. This time the clue came from ground-penetrating
radar–an instrument that emits radar waves into the earth and records the returned
echoes. Different echoes reveal distinct layers of soil and rock or, in this case,
fossilized remains of dinosaurs. Paleontologists have excavated the remains of one of
these plant-eating, ground-shaking creatures–called seismosaurs–in the desert of
New Mexico.
Whether deployed in space or on the earth’s surface, remote-sensing instruments are
becoming standard archaeological tools. Many archaeologists, trained to use a pick
and shovel and to hold the artifacts they describe, are not yet comfortable with these
techniques. Nevertheless, those who use remote-sensing instruments have begun to
accumulate a wealth of new and unusual evidence. Perhaps as important, some have
been able to gather priceless knowledge without disturbing fragile sites–a
requirement that is increasingly expected in this era of conservation.
A Very Recent History
Although aerial photographs have been available since the early years of this
century, remote sensing of the earth was truly born in December 1968, when Apollo
astronauts telecast the first view of the planet from the vicinity of the moon. An
astonished audience watched the beautiful blue sphere rise above the lunar horizon in
the black void of space. Astronauts on later earth orbital missions reported seeing the
Great Wall snaking across the mountainous terrain of China and the Great Pyramid
gracing the Giza Plateau west of the Nile River. A new way of looking at the earth
began to emerge: researchers considered how to perceive structures and landscapes
from afar with advanced technologies and how to uncover hidden details.
In 1972 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration initiated the Landsat
program to scan and study agricultural areas. By recording the intensity of infrared
rays reflected by vegetation, NASA scientists could estimate crop yields. The
healthier the crop of wheat, for example, the more vigorous the reflection. The earth
could now be viewed, within the electromagnetic spectrum, as a patchwork of
luminous reds, yellows, blues and greens. Gradually, researchers realized that these
images were of value to other disciplines, including geology, geography and
archaeology. By the late 1970s a few archaeologists were employing Landsat images
to help determine the location of Maya ruins in the dense jungles of the Yucatan
Peninsula and ancient structures in the plains of what was once Mesopotamia.
In the 1980s archaeologists familiar with Landsat began to utilize pictures with even
higher resolution. Thomas L. Sever, an archaeologist and remote-sensing expert at
the NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, and Payson D. Sheets, an
anthropologist at the University of Colorado, were among those who pushed the
technology to another level. By requesting the installation of infrared sensors on
airplanes, they were able to record “an odd, twisting line” in the Tilaran area of
northwestern Costa Rica. The infrared photographs showed that the mark ran across
hills and valleys. Sever and Sheets noted at the time that they suspected it was not a
natural feature but a prehistoric road. They were correct. Later fieldwork proved the
existence of footpaths that were between 1,000 and 2,000 years old, linking
cemeteries, villages and quarries.
Although ancient roads can be observed in satellite images–as in the case of the
Empty Quarter of Arabia–the details unveiled by the infrared aerial photographs
were even more precise. Thus, Sever and Sheets had little trouble finding the
structures once they set out on foot. Sever went on to identify prehistoric roads in
Chaco Canyon, N.M., showing that the Chaco civilization was hardly isolated but
rather part of a vast trade network in the North American Southwest. This approach
to finding ancient cities has become commonplace for archaeologists.
In 1986 the National Center for Space Study in France provided the next advance in
satellite remote sensing: SPOT. Its multispectral images could capture objects or
areas 20 meters wide, and the panchromatic data recorded objects as small as 10
meters. (In contrast, the first three Landsat sensors were able to detect objects 80
meters in size or larger; the later two missions could resolve items as small as 30
meters in size.) The SPOT images do not offer as much detail as aerial photographs
do, but they cover much larger areas, allowing regional investigations. James R.
Wiseman of Boston University was one of the first researchers to employ this
technology. His team studied SPOT images of the landscape in northwestern Greece
and discovered the ancient coastline of Ammoudhia Bay, the home of an important
bygone port. The researchers were able to map inland tidal channels as well as
former inlets.
Uncanny Promise
Perhaps the greatest tool for archaeology comes from so-called imaging radar. This
technology’s unique ability to penetrate underneath desert sands and to unveil ancient
topography has astonished experts–including its designers, Charles Elachi and his
colleagues at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Imaging radar was
first used on board the maiden flight of the space shuttle in November 1981. The
Shuttle Imaging Radar experiment (SIR-A) provided numerous images of the eastern
Sahara. Three years later SIR-B also obtained images of the Arabian Peninsula, as
did the radar’s most recent incarnation–the Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR-C) in
April and October 1994. SIRC beamed the images in digital form to receiving
stations on the ground for direct analysis by computer. By including both the
horizontal and vertical polarizations, SIR-C brought out more details of the imaged
regions [see illustrations on pages 61 and 63; also, see “Earth from Sky,” by Diane L.
Evans et al.; SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, December 1994].
The SIR-A images of the Western Desert of Egypt, near the border with Sudan, had
particular significance for my own research. This terrain is covered by a thick layer
of sand, topographically distinguished only by low hills. But the radar unveiled the
long-empty beds of three great rivers, which ranged from eight to 20 kilometers in
width. The intervening hills appeared to have been islands created by fluvial erosion.
Field excavation later showed that the radar waves had penetrated five meters into
the sand to reveal the banks of these ancient waterways. Archaeologists then
unearthed hand axes, proving that humans lived there some 200,000 years ago.
The discovery provided the data that teams of archaeologists, geologists and
biologists needed to verify their hypothesis about the evolution of this part of the
Sahara, just west of the Nile. The Western Desert is today the driest place on earth.
Nevertheless, researchers suspected that between 5,000 and 11,000 years ago, the
local climate was wetter; before that, a dry climate prevailed. These alternating
cycles were thought to date back 320,000 years. Imaging radar clinched the case by
revealing vast river courses from the wet periods.
The ability to determine the presence of invisible rivers, in turn, allowed
archaeologists to develop a more complete picture of early Egyptian civilization.
Fred Wendorf of Southern Methodist University, who has conducted many
investigations in the Western Desert, concludes that about 11,000 years ago, rainfall
increased from near zero to 100 to 200 millimeters a year. This shift permitted the
growth of grasses and thorn trees–much like those thriving in such environments as
California’s Death Valley. Wendorf believes that although the climate was unstable
and fraught with droughts, the indigenous people developed a complex economy
based on herding.
The rainy era ended 5,000 years ago–the date that marks the initiation of Egyptian
civilization. It is my opinion that the two events are inextricably related. Climate
change gradually brought extreme aridity to the eastern Sahara, perhaps prompting a
mass migration to the only dependable source of water, the Nile. The banks of the
Nile, however, were already teeming with a sedentary population. It may have been
the dynamic convergence of these two peoples that planted the seeds of ancient
Egypt.
The ancient “river” people lived in harmony with the ebb and flow of the Nile. They
measured the strength of annual floods and ingeniously lifted water from the river to
channel it to their fields. Their thoughts were directed toward the earth, which they
tilled with great expertise. Those who came from the west had “desert wisdom.”
They learned how to live with erratic rainfall and where to seek greener pastures. To
escape the scorching heat of the sun, they moved at night and were adept in
astronomy. These nomadic people kept their sights turned upward, contemplating
man’s place in the universe–a philosophical orientation that permeates the recorded
history of Egypt.
The arrival of desert people on the banks of the Nile increased the regional
population, requiring better social organization to produce enough food. The cultural
interaction of the two groups created a vigorous new society; it was this crossfertilization that ignited the spark of civilization in ancient Egypt.
Back Down to Earth
The least explored application of remote sensing for archaeology takes place on the
ground: the use of handheld sensors. Typically, when archaeologists study a site,
they divide it into a grid to guide digging, which often proceeds at each point of
intersection. The approach leaves much to chance. Handheld sensors, however, can
direct archaeologists to the exact location of an artifact, limiting the area that has to
be disturbed and saving time.
Anna C. Roosevelt of the Field Museum in Chicago has used such tools to great
advantage, experimenting with various combinations. Roosevelt has been at the
forefront of this technological advance–and she has made important discoveries
about the settlements and lifestyles of prehistoric peoples in the Brazilian Amazon.
One of the cultures Roosevelt studied was a mound-building chiefdom that subsisted
on fishing and the cultivation and collection of plants on the island of Marajo, at the
mouth of the Amazon River. She used a series of portable tools to discern the
location and nature of the mounds [see illustration on page 62]. A proton
magnetometer scan of several three-hectare-wide mounds that ranged in height from
seven to 10 meters delineated the large, fired-clay hearths of many houses. Groundpenetrating radar revealed disturbed soil layers. Electromagnetic equipment
indicated conductivity changes below the surface, marking locations of strata. In
addition, instruments measuring electrical conductivity resistance mapped horizontal
and vertical stratigraphic shifts caused by buried earth platforms, garbage fill and the
hearths. Devices that measured the refraction of seismic waves detected several
building stages and located the original ground on which the mounds were built.
Taken together with excavations, the insights gleaned from these technologies
allowed Roosevelt to form a picture of life along the banks of the Amazon between
500 A.D. and the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1500s Marajoaran peoples lived in
separate and warring chiefdoms, harvested fruits and food crops, and built their
extensive mounds to raise their settlements out of the swamps. For centuries, they
would build one house on top of an older one. Roosevelt has argued that the
Marajoarans’ sophisticated culture was indigenous, thus challenging the longstanding theory that the lush life of the forest prevented Amazonian Indians from
evolving complex societies.
Work near Santarem in northern Brazil led Roosevelt to another discovery that is
overturning thinking about Amazon habitation. It has been an entrenched
anthropological conclusion that Indians from Mexico or Peru introduced pottery
making into the Amazon. But Roosevelt’s team uncovered evidence of a thriving
pottery-using, fishing population in place 7,000 years ago. Ground-penetrating radar
revealed numerous domestic features, and resistivity and seismic surveys detected
the initial layers of occupation, which produced the early radiocarbon and
thermoluminescence dates of the pottery. Because the Amazon pottery later found at
several other sites predates other Western Hemisphere pottery by thousands of years,
the research has changed the picture of early American cultural development.
The Craft of Conservation
Archaeological sites are easily destroyed once they have been excavated, because
they become exposed to the elements, to visitors and, often, to looters. It is becoming
disturbingly clear that cultural patrimony is under siege, as magnificent monuments-from Angkor in Cambodia to Machu Picchu in Peru–crumble. Modern
archaeologists must increasingly consider how to preserve sites they have unearthed
or how to examine sites without touching them.
My first experience using remote sensing in this way came in 1987 during work on
the Great Pyramid at Giza. Built by Pharaoh Khufu–or, as the Greeks called him,
Cheops–some 4,600 years ago, the pyramid had two sealed chambers near its base.
Excavation of one began in 1954, and archaeologists soon discovered inside it a
disassembled barge, 43.4 meters long and 5.9 meters wide. It took 18 years to
excavate and assemble this royal bark, which was ultimately housed in a special
“Boat Museum” constructed on the site. Opened to visitors in 1982, the boat became
a popular attraction.
It also diminished. By some estimates, the barge has shrunk about a half a meter
since it was placed in the museum. Conservators believe this deterioration is caused
by the environmental conditions inside the building, which differed from those of the
sealed chamber. It was thought that a second, unopened chamber also contained a
boat, so I was asked to develop a plan to study the sealed environment–and to
determine how best to preserve the boat that was already on exhibit.
In 1987 the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, the National Geographic Society and
the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University agreed to apply remote-sensing
techniques to study the second chamber. Because the first chamber had been
hermetically sealed, it seemed logical that an air sample from the second one could
produce data on the composition of the earth’s atmosphere 4.6 millennia ago. I called
on Bob Moores, a Black and Decker engineer who had worked on the lunar-surface
drill used by the Apollo astronauts, to drill a hole without affecting the pristine
environment. Moores designed an airlock that allowed cutting through the rock
without mixing the air inside with the air outside. We used ground-penetrating radar
to determine the shape of the chamber and to select a proper drilling site.
After two and a half days of drilling, we penetrated the 159-centimeter-thick rock
cap. We then inserted a probe into the chamber and sampled air from three levels.
Next, we lowered a camera into the enclosure, discovering hieroglyphs on the
chamber walls and the anticipated second royal bark. The analysis of the air samples-as well as a view of moisture marks on the walls and of a desert beetle crawling
about–testified to the fact that the modern environment was somehow reaching the
chamber. But it was not necessary to excavate and further endanger the bark, and so
we sealed the hole and left the royal history in the same state as we found it.
A team of archaeologists in England has recently been able to conduct a similar
nondestructive study. Using remote-sensing instruments, the scientists are mapping a
buried Roman city under the village of Wroxeter, locating streets, shops and what
may be a church–all without disturbing the village and pastures that overlie the city.
Computer models offer a compelling illustration of what this densely populated city
must have looked like.
In the next century, remote sensing will continue to offer researchers a virtual
archaeological reality, one that is needed to preserve the fragile environment of the
earth and of historical sites. In exploring the mysteries that may lie beneath our feet,
we may learn as much from what we do not touch as we do from what we hold in
our hands.
Remote Sensing from Space…
Landsat Three of these digital-imaging satellites were launched in the 1970s into
nearpolar orbits. Multispectral scanners on the satellites measured the radiation in
four bands of the electromagnetic spectrum reflected by various materials on the
earth’s surface. The scanners transmitted the data to ground stations.
Thematic Mapper This instrument was carried on Landsat 4 and Landsat 5 in the
1980s. Its sensor obtained 30-meter-resolution images in seven spectral bands: three
in visible light (blue, green and red), one in near infrared, two in mid-infrared and
one in thermal infrared. Thematic Mapper images could therefore detect a wider
range of variations in the spectral response of surface materials.
SPOT Unlike the experimental Landsat, this series of imaging satellites was
designed to be fully operational. Rather than scanning the scene with a moving
mirror, as in the case of Landsat, SPOT sensors use linear-array “push broom”
technology, which adds to the geometric fidelity of the images. Furthermore, the
system has pointable optics to allow side viewing for stereo or three-dimensional
imaging.
Radar Imaging radar instruments transmit microwaves toward the surface of the
earth and record the echoes. Echoes from rocky terrain are generally strong, or
“bright,” in an image; those from smooth surfaces are weak, or “dark.” Different
combinations of wavelengths and polarization can be used to produce color images
that emphasize particular features. In addition, radar images enhance such linear
features as faults and escarpments. They showed, for example, several generations of
a segment of the Great Wall of China that were not identified by other imaging
systems.
Corona The U.S. government has recently declassified photographs obtained by
“spy satellites” between 1960 and 1972. These black-and-white views have
resolution as fine as one meter. Their ability to present scenes in stereo a …
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