Archaeologist Sarah Parcak uses satellite imagery to find previously undiscovered sites of ancient human activities. She also uses such images to detect looting of known sites. She describes her techniques in the TED talk video below. See also the Gallery: Archaeological mysteries hidden in satellite images.
Parcak won the million dollar TED Prize for 2016:
- 2016 TED Prize winner | Prize-winning wishes | TED Prize | Participate | TED
- TED 2016: Space archaeologist wins $1m to find hidden sites – BBC News
- The 2016 TED Prize winner: Satellite archaeologist Sarah Parcak – TED Blog
She will use the prize to develop the online Global Xplorer site to involve citizen scientists in using satellite imagery to find new archaeological sites and to protect known ones:
I wish for us to discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By building an online citizen science platform and training a 21st century army of global explorers, we’ll find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind’s collective resilience and creativity.