Archaeology from Space
How the Future Shapes Our Past
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Winner of Archaeological Institute of America's Felicia A. Holton Book Award • Winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Prize for Science • An Amazon Best Science Book of 2019 • A Science Friday Best Science Book of 2019 • A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2019 • A Science News Best Book of 2019 • Nature's Top Ten Books of 2019
"A crash course in the amazing new science of space archaeology that only Sarah Parcak can give. This book will awaken the explorer in all of us." ?Chris Anderson, Head of TED
National Geographic Explorer and TED Prize-winner Dr. Sarah Parcak gives readers a personal tour of the evolution, major discoveries, and future potential of the young field of satellite archaeology. From surprise advancements after the declassification of spy photography, to a new map of the mythical Egyptian city of Tanis, she shares her field’s biggest discoveries, revealing why space archaeology is not only exciting, but urgently essential to the preservation of the world’s ancient treasures.
Parcak has worked in twelve countries and four continents, using multispectral and high-resolution satellite imagery to identify thousands of previously unknown settlements, roads, fortresses, palaces, tombs, and even potential pyramids. From there, her stories take us back in time and across borders, into the day-to-day lives of ancient humans whose traits and genes we share. And she shows us that if we heed the lessons of the past, we can shape a vibrant future.
Includes Illustrations
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Anthropology professor Parcak spiritedly educates general audience about an expanding new field that applies "air- or space-based data" to study landscapes and thus increase understanding of human history. For example, Brazilian archaeologists found satellite evidence suggesting over a million people lived in part of the Amazon basin during pre-Columbian times. Parcak humanizes her topic by tracing her interest in it to her grandfather, a WWII-era Army paratrooper who, after the war, applied his aerial-photograph-analysis skills to forestry, inventing a then-revolutionary way to gauge tree heights. She also looks at the evolution of space archaeology, tracing it to a NASA intern, Mary Marguerite Scalera, who first identified its potential in 1970. Parcak even offers her audience the opportunity to participate; she founded GlobalXplorer, an online platform that uses crowdsourcing to analyze satellite images to, as she said during the 2015 TED talk that secured her funding, "find and protect the world's hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind's collective resilience and creativity." At the conclusion, Parcak notes that, since GlobalXplorer's founding, more than 80,000 users from over 100 countries have contributed their time to looking at satellite images. Bolstered by this empowering pitch for the general reader's involvement, Parcak's book provides a revelatory look at an exciting new field.