The High-Tech Future of the Ancient Science of Archaeology
Emerging technologies could soon allow archaeologists to virtually excavate an entire site within an hour
In many ways, archaeology is still conducted in much the same way it has been for centuries. A single archaeological team might work at a particular dig site for more than 40 years, carefully excavating, studying, preserving, and documenting their findings, and they would barely scratch the surface.
But by 2119, the entire enterprise might look completely different. Emerging technologies could soon allow us to virtually excavate an entire site within an hour, hardly disturbing a square meter of dirt in the process.
Imagine a 500-meter-square mound, with parts of an ancient wall system visible under the earth. Instead of a team of archaeologists carefully removing dirt and debris to document and analyze this ancient site over the course of decades, imagine that a fleet of drones equipped with LIDAR, thermal infrared, and hyperspectral sensing systems fly over the mound to detect subsurface architecture with near-complete accuracy in a matter of minutes. A technician reading the 3D images produced by this scan would see hot spots for the mortuary, administrative, residential, and workshop areas buried beneath the ground in…
