Mexico: A professor from University of North Florida has gained national attention for finding ruins of an ancient city far from Florida.
With the help of a small, remote-controlled drone, his team of archaeologists uncovered 60 households beneath eroded stone and wind-blown sand. The drone uses a heat-sensing camera to identify structures beneath the earth's surface.
Since 1970, archaeologists have been looking for traces of an ancient Puebloan settlement in New Mexico, just south of Chaco Canyon. It is a desert land they call, Blue J.
"Using any other technique would have taken years of work because there is no where to find [the structures] and no way to look beneath the surface," said UNF professor Dr. John Kantner.
Dr. Kantner used the drone to uncover a village 1,000 years old. It was once the cultural and religious center of the ancient Puebloan society that dates back to the 11th century.
Archaeologists have been talking about using thermal imaging technology to probe ancient sites for years. But archaeologists have struggled to keep the drones in the air for a long period of time. However, Kantner and his team were successful and they said that they are planning to use their drone for more discoveries in the future.
Source: Firstcoastnews
