Space Archaeology and the Discovery of Buried Egypt
Once upon a time archaeology was about being out with a map, a compass, a trowel and a good pair of boots. Now its ‘Move over Indy’… Space Archaeology is here…the final frontier.
News reports this week here and here described how images of lost, undiscovered or misunderstood archaeological sites using NASA satellites, 435 miles above earth, are changing our understanding of ancient Egypt. By directing an infrared ray and a camera at earth, buried sites, not visible on the surface, come to life for archaeologists to study, governments to administer and security guards to protect.
This is what popular archaeology is all about…exploration and discovery! I’ll bet this is what many archaeologists born in the 70’s grew up believing in.
1. 21st century technology,
2. The ability to dig and understand archaeology without actually digging it,
3. Pointing lasers or some other imaging ray at the earth to reveal intricate details of past inhabitants, and
4. Egypt…the Queen of the archaeological world! I am envious!
To cover it succinctly, the main points of the story are:
- That 17 new pyramids and 3,000 new sites have been identified by infrared technology, captured from satellites.
- That 1,000 tombs have been identified.
- That infra red cameras can detect and record objects or features less than a metre in size.
- That we now have the technology to accurately identify and map buried archaeological settlements, across large areas.
- That we now have the technology to monitor, assess and protect archaeology from space, with high precision.
By detecting differential changes in material densities and heat stored within buried archaeological features, and comparing that with the background response of surrounding natural sediments or geology; the footprints or outline of archaeology no longer visible in the modern landscape can be seen.
For example, the hard mudbrick that Egyptian houses were normally constructed from, give a different signal or response to the loose desert sand sediments surrounding it.
The result is that Dr Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama and NASA are changing the historical concept of settlement, and burial practises, in Egypt. Large areas of land can be investigated using satellite remote sensing, allowing archaeologists to get a better sense of spatial distribution, size, scale, complexity… and discover unknown sites.
The infrared images are able to detect those remains in the first metres of the earth’s surface, in areas where there is no modern development. Parcak suggests that there may be more sites and monuments at deeper levels still unknown.
As an old fashioned field archaeologist, I am very heartened to read that she believes follow up fieldwork and excavation to confirm these initial findings is essential…this enables site characterisation and mean the images undergo rigorous testing regarding their value in archaeological and heritage investigation and management. This could make a huge impact on the way sites, particularly those in isolated locations, are cared for and protected.
The BBC followed Parcak to Egypt for a documentary, Egypt’s Lost Cities, due to air this Monday in the UK, to test the amazing network of buildings and streets recorded of the ancient city of Tanis.
The Ancient City of Tanis


Modern city San El Hagar on the left, with the inset showing the location of ancient Tanis.
Although I have not seen the documentary, news reports described this as a nervous journey, with the team focusing on one target identified by satellite. The result was the excavation of a 3,000 year building, that matches the shape seen on the satellite image. Fantastic!
A Pyramid Complex
Just as amazing is the image of the previously undiscovered pyramid complex. In the image, 3 square monuments are clearly visible, all of which clearly have circular void spaces internally. Are these the burial chambers?

The pyramids are surrounded by boundary ‘walls’ with access points across them, auxiliary buildings, and chevron shapes pointing inward toward the pyramids. The remains of ramps used in construction or another purpose?
Outside the immediate pyramid complex are small circular crater like features, and any number of dark points. Perhaps these are underground tombs and secondary burials, or are they small mud brick dwellings? Perhaps the evidence of workers and associates also killed on the death of the person inside the pyramid.
It is tantalising, albeit romantic, archaeology at its best.
Of course this is not really new, satellites and radar technology were used by Damian Evans and Bill Saturno from the University of Sydney to visualise the Angkor Wat complex in 2008 from 200 miles in the air see here, and New Zealand archaeologist Kevin Jones flagged the use of infrared technology as potentially benefiting the understanding of Pa and horticultural landscapes in New Zealand in his 1996 article ‘Aerial Photography in New Zealand Archaeology’, see here.
The question has to be asked? Could a landscape such as New Zealand benefit from such a survey? We have large unpopulated spaces, but would our wet, temperate environment and variable topography muddy the results. I ask this in regard an article released on April 27th this year in the Wanganui Chronicle announcing the discovery of 720 new historic and archaeological sites in the Wanganui District. One of the sources of the discoveries was the 1942 run of aerial photography. Does satellite imagery have the potential to simplify this process of identification and management in New Zealand? Or does it open up sites to potential mismanagement through lack of funds and protection when dealing with increased numbers of archaeological sites?
Aside from the practicalities of its application, if you put together the images generated from this recent story with the words Space, NASA, Indiana Jones and Egypt…and you get a powerhouse story that is sexy, techy and looks good…its probably a good lesson in how archaeology should be advertising itself.
It is just a pity all archaeologists don’t have a space rocket parked in their garage!
0 Responses to “Space Archaeology and the Discovery of Buried Egypt”
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Thanks Bridget for this insight into a news story that has been shortened by some media beyond recognition.
Remote sensing in all sorts of disguises will play more and more a part of modern archaeology. It is one of the few ways to engage with subsurface features beyond the tiny spaces we have the money to excavate.
In South Taranaki unrecorded pa sites can be seen on GoogleEarth (didn’t some Australian archaeologist use GoogleEarth recently to investigate archaeological landscapes in Saudi Arabia and Jordan?).
And Ian Lawlor has been using infra red aerials to chase up Maori horticulture. We used one of his photos on Long Bay in North Auckland. 19th century ditch & bank features can be clearly seen on it.
Closer to earth – actually only a few centimeters over the ground – geophysical surveys have supplied data for many hectares on archaeological sites like Kohika or Wairau Bar. Again a much larger picture emerges form underground features than can be achieved with the usually small excavation areas.
None of these non intrusive methods though can be used with confidence without ground testing, though this ground testing is rather like a small surgical incision than open heart surgery to an archaeological site.
Didn’t TimeTeam recently have a special about geophysics and its use over the years on the TV series?
Cheers, Hans
Hey Hans, I am glad you bought up the TT documentary. I have someone on the case in Time Team to get a copy sent out to me. It will be interesting to see what is said. As I understand it they even buried such things as modern bikes to see what sort of responce is detected. If I know anything about Tony and John, Tony will be egging John on, and John alternating between an exasperated smile and a despairing shake of the head, perhaps cupped in his hand. I would be interested to know more about the use of infra red in NZ, and absolutely concur that remote ensing will become a cornerstone of archaeology the world over. It is still nagging me however…if we collect all of this information, what does it mean? Surely appropriate management and funding needs to be considered prior to any such mass collection of data. To wear my conservators hat for a moment…surely this amounts to negligance and potentially a lack of appropriate protection for sites. Is ignorance bliss?
Hey WOW thank you for posting this! Im working at a boyscout camp this summer and part of my job is being a merit badge councelor for archaeology. In the merit badge book it’s funny because it says that in the future archaeologists might use satellites for archeaology. I can’t wait to include new information like this into my program.
Thanks Dan, always good to help, especially when it means educating the future!
Hi Bridget,
Sorry to reply so late to your question. Ignorance is never bliss but a curse (I hope you asked this as a rhetorical question). The real issue is that we are on the threshold of the digital age in terms of documenting archaeological information. Digital site plans and excavation drawings are still printed out and stored as reports, some in .pdf form. But we don’t have a proper digital repository for this data as for example the Museum of London supplies for excavations in London. Thus large scale landscape investigations using infra red, high resolution aerials, LIDAR or satellite sources in a digital environment don’t fit very well into our currently used recording environment.
A first step towards a more digital aware recording environment has been taken by NZAA with ArchSite, a web based GIS application using the data from the Site Recording Scheme, which is running since the 1950’s. As NZAA is a mere interest group run by volunteers this was and still is a huge effort and they should be applauded for it. But it is still a long way to go.
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