Archaeology from space
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0:01 - 0:03When I was a child growing up in Maine,
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0:03 - 0:05one of my favorite things to do
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0:05 - 0:08was to look for sand dollars
on the seashores of Maine, -
0:08 - 0:11because my parents told me
it would bring me luck. -
0:11 - 0:14But you know, these shells,
they're hard to find. -
0:14 - 0:16They're covered in sand,
they're difficult to see. -
0:17 - 0:20However, over time,
I got used to looking for them. -
0:20 - 0:22I started seeing shapes
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0:22 - 0:25and patterns that helped me
to collect them. -
0:26 - 0:29This grew into a passion
for finding things, -
0:29 - 0:31a love for the past and archaeology.
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0:32 - 0:35And eventually, when I started
studying Egyptology, -
0:35 - 0:39I realized that seeing
with my naked eyes alone wasn't enough. -
0:39 - 0:42Because all of the sudden, in Egypt,
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0:42 - 0:46my beach had grown
from a tiny beach in Maine -
0:46 - 0:48to one eight hundred miles long,
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0:48 - 0:49next to the Nile.
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0:49 - 0:53And my sand dollars had grown
to the size of cities. -
0:54 - 0:57This is really what brought me
to using satellite imagery. -
0:57 - 1:01For trying to map the past,
I knew that I had to see differently. -
1:02 - 1:05So I want to show you an example
of how we see differently -
1:05 - 1:07using the infrared.
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1:07 - 1:10This is a site located
in the eastern Egyptian delta -
1:10 - 1:11called Mendes.
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1:11 - 1:14And the site visibly appears brown,
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1:14 - 1:16but when we use the infrared
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1:16 - 1:19and we process it, all of the sudden,
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1:19 - 1:21using false color,
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1:21 - 1:22the site appears as bright pink.
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1:23 - 1:24What you are seeing
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1:24 - 1:27are the actual chemical changes
to the landscape -
1:27 - 1:31caused by the building
materials and activities -
1:31 - 1:32of the ancient Egyptians.
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1:33 - 1:35What I want to share with you today
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1:36 - 1:38is how we've used satellite data
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1:38 - 1:41to find an ancient Egyptian city,
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1:41 - 1:42called Itjtawy,
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1:42 - 1:44missing for thousands of years.
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1:45 - 1:48Itjtawy was ancient Egypt's capital
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1:48 - 1:49for over four hundred years,
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1:49 - 1:52at a period of time
called the Middle Kingdom, -
1:52 - 1:53about four thousand years ago.
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1:54 - 1:57The site is located
in the Faiyum of Egypt, -
1:57 - 1:58and the site is really important,
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1:58 - 2:01because in the Middle Kingdom
there was this great renaissance -
2:01 - 2:04for ancient Egyptian art,
architecture and religion. -
2:05 - 2:08Egyptologists have always known
the site of Itjtawy -
2:08 - 2:12was located somewhere near the pyramids
of the two kings who built it, -
2:12 - 2:15indicated within the red circles here,
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2:15 - 2:17but somewhere within
this massive flood plain. -
2:17 - 2:18This area is huge --
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2:18 - 2:21it's four miles by three miles in size.
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2:21 - 2:24The Nile used to flow
right next to the city of Itjtawy, -
2:24 - 2:28and as it shifted and changed
and moved over time to the east, -
2:28 - 2:29it covered over the city.
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2:29 - 2:33So, how do you find a buried city
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2:33 - 2:35in a vast landscape?
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2:35 - 2:38Finding it randomly
would be the equivalent -
2:38 - 2:40of locating a needle in a haystack,
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2:40 - 2:42blindfolded, wearing baseball mitts.
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2:42 - 2:43(Laughter)
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2:43 - 2:46So what we did is
we used NASA topography data -
2:46 - 2:49to map out the landscape,
very subtle changes. -
2:49 - 2:52We started to be able to see
where the Nile used to flow. -
2:53 - 2:56But you can see in more detail,
and even more interesting, -
2:56 - 2:58this very slight raised area
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2:58 - 2:59seen within the circle up here
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2:59 - 3:03which we thought could possibly be
the location of the city of Itjtawy. -
3:03 - 3:06So we collaborated
with Egyptian scientists -
3:06 - 3:08to do coring work, which you see here.
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3:08 - 3:11When I say coring, it's like ice coring,
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3:11 - 3:13but instead of layers of climate change,
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3:13 - 3:15you're looking for layers
of human occupation. -
3:15 - 3:17And, five meters down,
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3:17 - 3:19underneath a thick layer of mud,
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3:19 - 3:22we found a dense layer of pottery.
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3:22 - 3:25What this shows is that
at this possible location of Itjtawy, -
3:25 - 3:26five meters down,
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3:26 - 3:29we have a layer of occupation
for several hundred years, -
3:29 - 3:31dating to the Middle Kingdom,
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3:31 - 3:34dating to the exact period of time
we think Itjtawy is. -
3:34 - 3:37We also found work stone --
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3:37 - 3:39carnelian, quartz and agate
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3:39 - 3:41that shows that there was
a jeweler's workshop here. -
3:41 - 3:43These might not look like much,
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3:43 - 3:46but when you think
about the most common stones -
3:46 - 3:49used in jewelry from the Middle Kingdom,
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3:49 - 3:51these are the stones that were used.
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3:51 - 3:53So, we have a dense layer of occupation
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3:53 - 3:55dating to the Middle Kingdom at this site.
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3:55 - 3:58We also have evidence
of an elite jeweler's workshop, -
3:58 - 4:02showing that whatever was there
was a very important city. -
4:02 - 4:03No Itjtawy was here yet,
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4:03 - 4:05but we're going to be
returning to the site -
4:06 - 4:08in the near future to map it out.
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4:08 - 4:09And even more importantly,
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4:09 - 4:14we have funding to train young Egyptians
in the use of satellite technology -
4:14 - 4:17so they can be the ones
making great discoveries as well. -
4:18 - 4:22So I wanted to end with my favorite quote
from the Middle Kingdom -- -
4:22 - 4:25it was probably written
at the city of Itjtawy -
4:25 - 4:27four thousand years ago.
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4:27 - 4:30"Sharing knowledge
is the greatest of all callings. -
4:30 - 4:32There's nothing like it in the land."
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4:32 - 4:37So as it turns out,
TED was not founded in 1984 AD. -
4:37 - 4:39(Laughter)
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4:40 - 4:46Making ideas actually started in 1984 BC
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4:46 - 4:49at a not-lost-for-long city,
found from above. -
4:49 - 4:53It certainly puts finding seashells
by the seashore in perspective. -
4:53 - 4:54Thank you very much.
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4:54 - 4:57(Applause)
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4:57 - 4:58Thank you.
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4:58 - 5:00(Applause)
- Title:
- Archaeology from space
- Speaker:
- Sarah Parcak
- Description:
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In this short talk, TED Fellow Sarah Parcak introduces the field of "space archeology" -- using satellite images to search for clues to the lost sites of past civilizations.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 05:20
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Archeology from space | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Archeology from space | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Archeology from space | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Archeology from space | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Archeology from space | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Archeology from space | ||
Judith Matz commented on English subtitles for Archeology from space | ||
Darren Bridenbeck (Amara Staff) approved English subtitles for Archeology from space |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 11/16/2015. At 1:10, "Bendix" was changed to "Mendes."