As per a new study that was featured in the Journal of Archaeological Science, UAV’s that were outfitted with heat sensing cameras are now opening up various new opportunities in this field and they are also changing the manner in which archaeologists work. Researchers who were digging at a site of an ancient village in the New Mexican region say that drones have helped them now uncover what they think are the local ceremonial pits, buried deep under the surface of the ground.
Peeping under the earth’s surface
A University of North Florida professor, John Kantner said that within a few hours their team could survey an area that had taken him years of ground reconnaissance and excavation to see exactly what is below the surface. He said that this is an amazingly quick and easy way of finding sites. The site that Kantner and his team are now exploring is called the Blue J. It is situated in a very remote area in northwestern New Mexico and used to be cultural & religious fixture in the ancient Puebloan society. Kantner had discovered 2 different households at edge of the site but a large portion of what this site offers is buried deep under the surface.
The drones that Kantner and his team used detected large and unnatural circular shapes just under the ground and archaeologists now believe that these could be kivas or rooms used for religious rituals. All these discoveries are now easily possible only because of the introduction of drone technology. Remote sensing gives archaeologists a new set of eyes and they are able to see things that would otherwise be invisible.
Scientists are now also considering the use of these UAV’s or drones in some dry areas like Cyprus and Saudi Arabia. In environments such as these, the difference in the day and night temperatures allows the heat-sensing cameras to detect even the slightest of differences that show up in the heat signature in the buried stone structures. Originally, remote-controlled aircraft had been developed and used by the military and most people associate drones with warfare.
But now, all of that is changing. Today, this technology is being applied in many avenues such as monitoring ice floes across the Arctic region. Drones are also being used in search and rescue operations, in whale watching and in tracking movements of orangutans in Sumatra.