Satellite discovers ancient adobe pyramid in Peru
October 4th, 2008 - 4:16 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Oct 4 (ANI): A new remote sensing technology in a satellite has helped discover an ancient adobe pyramid near Perus Cahuachi desert.
According to a report in Discovery News, Nicola Masini and Rosa Lasaponara of Italys National Research Council (CNR) discovered the pyramid by analyzing images from the satellite Quickbird, which they used to penetrate the Peruvian soil.
The researchers investigated a test area along the river Nazca.
Covered by plants and grass, it was about a mile away from Cahuachis archaeological site, which contains the remains of what is believed to be the worlds biggest mud city.
Via Quickbird, Masini and colleagues collected hi-resolution infrared and multispectral images.
After the researchers optimized the images with special algorithms, the result was a detailed visualization of a pyramid extending over a 9,000-square-mile area.
The discovery doesnt come as a surprise to archaeologists, since some 40 mounds at Cahuachi are believed to contain the remains of important structures.
We know that many buildings are still buried under Cahuachis sands, but until now, it was almost impossible to exactly locate them and detect their shape from an aerial view, Masini told Discovery News.
Cahuachi is the best-known site of the Nazca civilization, which flourished in Peru between the first century B.C. and the fifth century A.D. and slid into oblivion by the time the Inca Empire rose to dominate the Andes. (ANI)
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Tags: aerial view, algorithms, andes, archaeologists, cahuachi, cnr, discovery news, fifth century, inca empire, masini, mounds, mud city, multispectral images, national research council, nicola, oblivion, pyramid, remote sensing technology, satellite quickbird, test area