Some Technologies Have Changed Archaeology Practices
Chris Fisher’s teammates found the remains of a settlement while studying the Purépecha empire in Mexico in 2009. He aimed to discover the end of the settlement only to find out that it was a huge city that would have him sacrifice the remaining part of his career surveying and studying more about the discovered site. Given that it was in the old days, the survey would have been more hard for Fisher, but this was not the case because he was a student at Colorado State University and a National Geographic explorer. At the University, Fisher had learned about 3D laser scanning services and another new technology called light detection and ranging (lidar), which was used as a sensor in remote areas. This lidar technology made it easier for Fisher and the team to study Purépecha city, whereby scanning the site that would have taken decades using traditional methods only took less than an hour.
Evolving Space Technology, Including 3D Laser Scanning Services
According to Philip Mink, an archaeologist at the Kentucky Office of State Archaeology and a student at the Kentucky university, archaeologists have been able to study the earth by looking from the air since the very first hot air balloon went up. Archaeologists have preferred using the NASA technology that involves GPR and the lidar, which has made it easier for them to study the ground hence creating new access to sites. Some of the technologies being used during this time have changed archaeology practices.
ISS
Most of us may think that space archaeology only involves going to space and taking pictures then we are wrong since it might also include studying pictures taken from space. Therefore, as time goes on, archaeologists will have to use different techniques to study the space and better understand it rather than traveling there. The project derived by Alice Gorman of Flinders University and Justin Walsh of Chapman University will include the recruitment of astronauts who will assist in the documentation of how life happens in space.
Climate Documentation
Fisher, an archaeologist who has worked on the Purepécha project, tells us that archaeology is not the most important thing the technology uses. Fisher is also warning archaeologists to document what they get at the moment before climate change affects everything that has been studied.
Using lidar technology with 3D laser scan and 3D scanning services would be highly recommended for this job since everything is recorded with high resolution. Fisher and their colleagues have also launched a project going by the name The Earth Archive with the hopes that it might be of help to future generations and even the present generation. The project is set to begin with the most threatened areas, including the rainforest.