mojo
06-13-2009, 12:55 AM
Some great archaeological discoveries being made thanks to declassified CORONA satellite images from the 60's and 70's. Good to see that some of the cold war paranoia is being put to good use in discovering ancient sites from around the world. There was an excellent image of an ancient fortress near the euphrates in syria at jebel khalid in my local paper which initially got me interested in looking further into this but i was able to find it on the net.
executive order (http://www.nro.gov/corona/execord.htm)
press release (http://www.nro.gov/corona/corpr.html)
press release 2 (http://www.nro.gov/PressReleases/prs_rel.html)
It showed 10 sites of interest 1. farm buildings or animal quarters 2.cemetaries 3. roman military camp 4. large mound dating back to middle of bronze age 5. hellenistic building 6. cemetary 7. large pottery factory 8. pottery kiln 9. jebel khalid fortress 10. watch tower. All within fairly close proximity to each other and spanning back to 130000 yr old remains.
first source (http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20007876-5005962,00.html)
AUSTRALIAN researchers studying declassified spy satellite images have found widespread remains of ancient human settlements dating back 130,000 years in Syria.
The photographs were taken by United States military surveillance satellites operating under the CIA and defence-led Corona program in the late 1960s.
The team of researchers travelled to the Euphrates River Valley in April and June and searched sites they had painstakingly identified using the images, which were only declassified in the late 1990s.
They have already found tools from the Middle Palaeolithic period that are between 130,000 and 40,000 years old, and could have been made by either Neanderthals or early modern humans, as well as a few Acheulian tools that could date back several hundred thousand years.
second source (http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/030206/ancientroads.shtml)
Oriental Institute archaeologists have used recently declassified satellite surveillance images to show that subtle land depressions–which had gone largely unnoticed by scholars–are actually the remnants of ancient roadways that knitted together the fabric of emerging civilizations in the ancient Near East.
These 5,000-year-old roadways were important thoroughfares for agricultural exchange and other commerce in an area of Syria and Iraq. It was here that expanding local settlements were coming into contact with cultures from southern Mesopotamia as urban civilization developed in the third millennium B.C., according to Tony Wilkinson, Research Associate at the institute, and Jason Ur, a researcher at the institute.
third source (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mjff/ellejjun.htm)
The Roman Legionary Fortress at El-Lejjun, Jordan (31.21N 35.8E), covers an area of approximately 4.6ha. Excavation has shown that the fortress was originally constructed around AD 300 but occupation extended through to the sixth century.
A recently declassified US satellite image acquired on 29 Sep 71 by a KH-4B photo-reconnaissance satellite shows the fortress in plan view. The image covers an area of some 1km by 1km with a pixel size equivalent to approximately 2.5m on the ground.
corona images home page (http://www.nro.gov/corona/facts.html)
some corona images (http://www.nro.gov/corona/imagery.html)
another source with image (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mjff/buryhill.htm)
The Iron Age hillfort at Bury Hill near Andover, Hampshire, UK (51.18N 1.51W) comprises a circular tree-covered rampart enclosing an area of some 5.5 ha. A fortuitous gap in an otherwise mainly cloud-covered KH-4B satellite image acquired on 17 Aug 68 reveals the area surrounding the hillfort.
The course of the Andover by-pass, very soon after it had been constructed, is particularly apparent on the declassified image as a white linear feature in the upper right corner. In the centre of the image, the dark circular outline of the tree-covered ramparts of the hillfort can be readily identified. Within the enclosure, a dark area can be seen that appears to correspond to the location of a large tree.
Would be good to be able to use some of the military satellites now as im sure the imagery would be much better than these older ones. Probably have to wait another 30 or 40 yrs for them to be declassified though, by then alot of these sites will probably be ruined.
Some ancient highways (http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/030206/ancientroads.shtml) in Syria discovered using declassified satelite images. Heres the pdf article about there work (http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/AR/02-03/02-03_CAMEL.pdf)
Oriental Institute archaeologists have used recently declassified satellite surveillance images to show that subtle land depressions–which had gone largely unnoticed by scholars–are actually the remnants of ancient roadways that knitted together the fabric of emerging civilizations in the ancient Near East
These 5,000-year-old roadways were important thoroughfares for agricultural exchange and other commerce in an area of Syria and Iraq. It was here that expanding local settlements were coming into contact with cultures from southern Mesopotamia as urban civilization developed in the third millennium B.C., according to Tony Wilkinson, Research Associate at the institute, and Jason Ur, a researcher at the institute
Is it weird how this guy's name is Ur and he's studying ancient mesopotamia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur)
Ur was an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia, located near the mouth (at the time) of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers on the Persian Gulf and close to Eridu. It is considered to be the earliest known civilization in world history. Because of marine regression, the remains are now well inland in present-day Iraq, south of the Euphrates on its right bank, and named Tell el-Mukayyar [1], near the city of Nasiriyah south of Baghdad.
couple of other pics ive come across.
Here's the supposed image of Noahs Ark on Mt Ararat (http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=060308_ark_quickbird_02.jpg&cap=DigitalGlobe%27s+QuickBird+commercial+remote+s ensing+satellite+imaged+the+Mt.+Ararat+%22anomaly% 22+in+2003.+This+image+has+never+seen+by+the+publi c+until+now.+The+anomaly++is+surrounded+below+by+v ery+rugged-looking+strato-volcanic+rock;+however,+the+texture+of+the+feature +in+question+is+relatively+smooth+and+appears+to+b e+made+of+a+different+substance.+Credit%3A+Digital Globe), looks like a rock formation to me but hey who knows. Apparently only released in march 2003.
Heres some more images from Afghanistan pre and post strike. (http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/afghan.htm) Not archaeology based images but interesting anyway. The IMINT Gallery page has more images from ww2, vietnam, cuba, libya etc.
This isnt declassified images but interesting anyway. Visit link and click on thumbnail for full size picture.
link 1 (http://www.livescience.com/history/070605_satellite_egypt2.html)
The Great Aten Temple at Tell el-Amarna, Middle Egypt. Even though the northern enclosure wall of the temple is buried beneath a modern cemetery, using DigitalGlobe high resolution satellite imagery, it is still possible to see the buried wall. Credit: DigitalGlobe
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/mojo4sale/070604_satellite_egypt_02.jpg
"There are thousands of settlements that Egyptians don't even know are there," Parcak told LiveScience. "Nothing will ever destroy the Pyramids or the Temple of Luxor, but these huge settlement sites where we get a lot of information are being threatened. And that's how we find out how people lived."
This was picked up by IKONOS. Visit link and click on thumbnail for full size picture.
link 2 (http://www.livescience.com/history/myan_canals_041116.html)
IKONOS satellite image revealing linear features that may have been Mayan irrigation canals. Credit: NASA/MSFC
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/mojo4sale/041116_myan_canals_02.jpg
Sever and co-worker Dan Irwin have been looking at satellite photos and, in them, Sever spotted signs of ancient drainage and irrigation canals in swamp-like areas near the Mayan ruins.
Some more interesting sites being discovered with the aid of satellite imagery, this time from IKONOS.
page1 (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97985&page=1)
scientists are puzzled and amazed by an ancient pathway, long buried by volcanic ash and vegetation that has resurfaced again in satellite images from space.
page2 (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=97985&page=2)
"The IKONOS satellite took away a huge amount of anxiety for us," Sheets says. It passes over the area once every six days, and when the weather is clear enough, "kaboom, we get gigabytes of imagery."
page3 (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=97985&page=3)
In some areas there are side paths that lead straight off the main pathway, and then stop abruptly for no apparent reason.
Google Earth is now being used by archaeologists more than the NASA, IKONOS and NRO and CORONA satellites photo's which have been declassified. Apparently the declassified spy satelite images can cost 10's of thousands of dollars whereas the Google Earth images cost very little in comparison.
cosmosmagazine (http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1764)
The human eye can detect wavelengths of light within the range of around 400 to 700 nanometres. But cameras attached to satellites and aircraft are now taking infrared and ultraviolet shots over a much wider range of wavelengths – and revealing some remarkable details about ancient civilisations.
It is not always changes in vegetation that reveals a hidden structure. Every object in the universe continually emits electromagnetic waves, such as light and infrared. The wavelengths emitted depend on the material and the temperature of the object.
Sensitive detectors, on satellites or aircraft, can reveal slight differences in ground cover through tiny variations in temperature. So if a region contains more stone, water or wood than its surrounds, it will stand out in a multi-spectral image.
Within a few hours on Google Earth, Madry was able to locate 101 features in an area covering 1,440 square kilometres in Central France. These features represented Iron Age, Medieval and Gallo-Roman sites.
executive order (http://www.nro.gov/corona/execord.htm)
press release (http://www.nro.gov/corona/corpr.html)
press release 2 (http://www.nro.gov/PressReleases/prs_rel.html)
It showed 10 sites of interest 1. farm buildings or animal quarters 2.cemetaries 3. roman military camp 4. large mound dating back to middle of bronze age 5. hellenistic building 6. cemetary 7. large pottery factory 8. pottery kiln 9. jebel khalid fortress 10. watch tower. All within fairly close proximity to each other and spanning back to 130000 yr old remains.
first source (http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20007876-5005962,00.html)
AUSTRALIAN researchers studying declassified spy satellite images have found widespread remains of ancient human settlements dating back 130,000 years in Syria.
The photographs were taken by United States military surveillance satellites operating under the CIA and defence-led Corona program in the late 1960s.
The team of researchers travelled to the Euphrates River Valley in April and June and searched sites they had painstakingly identified using the images, which were only declassified in the late 1990s.
They have already found tools from the Middle Palaeolithic period that are between 130,000 and 40,000 years old, and could have been made by either Neanderthals or early modern humans, as well as a few Acheulian tools that could date back several hundred thousand years.
second source (http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/030206/ancientroads.shtml)
Oriental Institute archaeologists have used recently declassified satellite surveillance images to show that subtle land depressions–which had gone largely unnoticed by scholars–are actually the remnants of ancient roadways that knitted together the fabric of emerging civilizations in the ancient Near East.
These 5,000-year-old roadways were important thoroughfares for agricultural exchange and other commerce in an area of Syria and Iraq. It was here that expanding local settlements were coming into contact with cultures from southern Mesopotamia as urban civilization developed in the third millennium B.C., according to Tony Wilkinson, Research Associate at the institute, and Jason Ur, a researcher at the institute.
third source (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mjff/ellejjun.htm)
The Roman Legionary Fortress at El-Lejjun, Jordan (31.21N 35.8E), covers an area of approximately 4.6ha. Excavation has shown that the fortress was originally constructed around AD 300 but occupation extended through to the sixth century.
A recently declassified US satellite image acquired on 29 Sep 71 by a KH-4B photo-reconnaissance satellite shows the fortress in plan view. The image covers an area of some 1km by 1km with a pixel size equivalent to approximately 2.5m on the ground.
corona images home page (http://www.nro.gov/corona/facts.html)
some corona images (http://www.nro.gov/corona/imagery.html)
another source with image (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mjff/buryhill.htm)
The Iron Age hillfort at Bury Hill near Andover, Hampshire, UK (51.18N 1.51W) comprises a circular tree-covered rampart enclosing an area of some 5.5 ha. A fortuitous gap in an otherwise mainly cloud-covered KH-4B satellite image acquired on 17 Aug 68 reveals the area surrounding the hillfort.
The course of the Andover by-pass, very soon after it had been constructed, is particularly apparent on the declassified image as a white linear feature in the upper right corner. In the centre of the image, the dark circular outline of the tree-covered ramparts of the hillfort can be readily identified. Within the enclosure, a dark area can be seen that appears to correspond to the location of a large tree.
Would be good to be able to use some of the military satellites now as im sure the imagery would be much better than these older ones. Probably have to wait another 30 or 40 yrs for them to be declassified though, by then alot of these sites will probably be ruined.
Some ancient highways (http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/030206/ancientroads.shtml) in Syria discovered using declassified satelite images. Heres the pdf article about there work (http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/AR/02-03/02-03_CAMEL.pdf)
Oriental Institute archaeologists have used recently declassified satellite surveillance images to show that subtle land depressions–which had gone largely unnoticed by scholars–are actually the remnants of ancient roadways that knitted together the fabric of emerging civilizations in the ancient Near East
These 5,000-year-old roadways were important thoroughfares for agricultural exchange and other commerce in an area of Syria and Iraq. It was here that expanding local settlements were coming into contact with cultures from southern Mesopotamia as urban civilization developed in the third millennium B.C., according to Tony Wilkinson, Research Associate at the institute, and Jason Ur, a researcher at the institute
Is it weird how this guy's name is Ur and he's studying ancient mesopotamia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur)
Ur was an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia, located near the mouth (at the time) of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers on the Persian Gulf and close to Eridu. It is considered to be the earliest known civilization in world history. Because of marine regression, the remains are now well inland in present-day Iraq, south of the Euphrates on its right bank, and named Tell el-Mukayyar [1], near the city of Nasiriyah south of Baghdad.
couple of other pics ive come across.
Here's the supposed image of Noahs Ark on Mt Ararat (http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=060308_ark_quickbird_02.jpg&cap=DigitalGlobe%27s+QuickBird+commercial+remote+s ensing+satellite+imaged+the+Mt.+Ararat+%22anomaly% 22+in+2003.+This+image+has+never+seen+by+the+publi c+until+now.+The+anomaly++is+surrounded+below+by+v ery+rugged-looking+strato-volcanic+rock;+however,+the+texture+of+the+feature +in+question+is+relatively+smooth+and+appears+to+b e+made+of+a+different+substance.+Credit%3A+Digital Globe), looks like a rock formation to me but hey who knows. Apparently only released in march 2003.
Heres some more images from Afghanistan pre and post strike. (http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/afghan.htm) Not archaeology based images but interesting anyway. The IMINT Gallery page has more images from ww2, vietnam, cuba, libya etc.
This isnt declassified images but interesting anyway. Visit link and click on thumbnail for full size picture.
link 1 (http://www.livescience.com/history/070605_satellite_egypt2.html)
The Great Aten Temple at Tell el-Amarna, Middle Egypt. Even though the northern enclosure wall of the temple is buried beneath a modern cemetery, using DigitalGlobe high resolution satellite imagery, it is still possible to see the buried wall. Credit: DigitalGlobe
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/mojo4sale/070604_satellite_egypt_02.jpg
"There are thousands of settlements that Egyptians don't even know are there," Parcak told LiveScience. "Nothing will ever destroy the Pyramids or the Temple of Luxor, but these huge settlement sites where we get a lot of information are being threatened. And that's how we find out how people lived."
This was picked up by IKONOS. Visit link and click on thumbnail for full size picture.
link 2 (http://www.livescience.com/history/myan_canals_041116.html)
IKONOS satellite image revealing linear features that may have been Mayan irrigation canals. Credit: NASA/MSFC
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/mojo4sale/041116_myan_canals_02.jpg
Sever and co-worker Dan Irwin have been looking at satellite photos and, in them, Sever spotted signs of ancient drainage and irrigation canals in swamp-like areas near the Mayan ruins.
Some more interesting sites being discovered with the aid of satellite imagery, this time from IKONOS.
page1 (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97985&page=1)
scientists are puzzled and amazed by an ancient pathway, long buried by volcanic ash and vegetation that has resurfaced again in satellite images from space.
page2 (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=97985&page=2)
"The IKONOS satellite took away a huge amount of anxiety for us," Sheets says. It passes over the area once every six days, and when the weather is clear enough, "kaboom, we get gigabytes of imagery."
page3 (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=97985&page=3)
In some areas there are side paths that lead straight off the main pathway, and then stop abruptly for no apparent reason.
Google Earth is now being used by archaeologists more than the NASA, IKONOS and NRO and CORONA satellites photo's which have been declassified. Apparently the declassified spy satelite images can cost 10's of thousands of dollars whereas the Google Earth images cost very little in comparison.
cosmosmagazine (http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1764)
The human eye can detect wavelengths of light within the range of around 400 to 700 nanometres. But cameras attached to satellites and aircraft are now taking infrared and ultraviolet shots over a much wider range of wavelengths – and revealing some remarkable details about ancient civilisations.
It is not always changes in vegetation that reveals a hidden structure. Every object in the universe continually emits electromagnetic waves, such as light and infrared. The wavelengths emitted depend on the material and the temperature of the object.
Sensitive detectors, on satellites or aircraft, can reveal slight differences in ground cover through tiny variations in temperature. So if a region contains more stone, water or wood than its surrounds, it will stand out in a multi-spectral image.
Within a few hours on Google Earth, Madry was able to locate 101 features in an area covering 1,440 square kilometres in Central France. These features represented Iron Age, Medieval and Gallo-Roman sites.