With population pressures, urbanization, and modernization encroaching, we're in a race against time. Why not use the most advanced tools we have to map, quantify, and protect our past?
From Sarah Parcak
I hope my work contributes to understanding long-term patterns of human behavior and how we survive, thrive, or fail during times of environmental, social, and economic crisis.
A lot of people are surprised when I talk so much about the present, but politics is just a crucial part of archaeology.
I'm looking at looting photos from space, and there are people putting their lives on the line every day protecting their heritage. I call these people the real culture heroes.
There's always a little jump to your heart when you realize you've got looting.
That's what I want to do, ultimately: figure out a way to get the world engaged with discovery and protecting these ancient sites.
Getting permission to use a drone in Egypt was problematical.
The looters are using Google Earth, too. They're coming in with metal detectors and geophysical equipment. Some ask me to confirm sites.
We want to excite the world about what's out there. But we don't want them to say, 'Oh, there are lots of sites in Egypt - let's loot.'
Discoveries aren't made by one person exploring by themselves. And discoveries aren't made overnight. People don't see the thousands of hours that go into it.
9 perspectives
8 perspectives
7 perspectives
2 perspectives
1 perspectives