Satellite images reveal 17 hidden Egyptian pyramids
MAY 25, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025337
BBC : Ancient Egyptians used mud bricks to build houses, tombs, and temples. Because the bricks are denser than sand, the thermal signatures of the two materials are different. As the BBC’s Frances Cronin reports, Egyptologist Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham exploits those differences to hunt for ancient cities that have been hidden for millennia beneath meters of accumulated sand. The locations of the cities show up in high-resolution IR images taken by satellites. By examining the images, Parcak and her collaborators have found 3000 settlements, 1000 tombs, and 17 pyramids—all previously unknown to archaeologists.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
