ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Recently published research describes how archaeologists outfitted a customized drone with a heat-sensing camera to unearth what they believe are ceremonial pits and other features at the site of an ancient village in New Mexico. The discovery of the structures hidden beneath layers of sediment and sagebrush is being hailed as an important step that could help archaeologists shed light on mysteries long buried by eroding desert landscapes from the American Southwest to the Middle East. The results of the research were published earlier this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Since the 1970s, archaeologists have known that aerial images of thermal infrared wavelengths of light could be a powerful tool for spotting cultural remains on the ground. Jesse Casana, an archaeologist at the University of Arkansas, teamed up with University of North Florida professor John Kantner last summer to test the drones in a remote area of northwestern New Mexico, south of Chaco Canyon — once the cultural and religious center of ancient Puebloan society. There already is talk about using the drones in other dry environments such as Saudi Arabia and Cyprus, where the difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures would be great enough to allow the heat signatures of buried stone structures or other features to pop up on the thermal images.
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