Satellites Mapped an Entire Buried Egyptian City | Archaeology from Space (Part 3 of 5)

Satellites Mapped an Entire Buried Egyptian City | Archaeology from Space (Part 3 of 5)

What does an entire buried city look like from space? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak and the chapter where satellite imagery uncovers the buried Egyptian city of Tanis (the real city Indiana Jones races to find in Raiders of the Lost Ark) revealing its streets, suburbs, and houses from orbit. They get into how fancy techniques, moisture, and time of year expose buried mud-brick architecture, why the book's globe-trotting "Grand Tour" chapter struggles without a core idea to hold it together, and a closing chapter that sets the satellites aside for a historical-fiction portrait of one woman's life as drought and famine bring down Egypt's Old Kingdom. A must-listen for anyone curious about satellite archaeology, remote sensing, and ancient Egypt. WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE: How satellite imagery mapped the entire buried city of Tanis in "Digging in the Wrong Place" (chapter 5), the chapter the hosts thought finally delivered the "space" the book promised. The technique behind it: combining multispectral and high-resolution satellite imagery (down to 0.3 m) to detect buried mud-brick architecture, and how moisture, season, and time of day change what the satellites can actually see, plus why ground-truthing still matters. A what-archaeologists-actually-think moment: Barbara and Tristan diagnose why the book struggles, it has a subject (satellite archaeology) but no core idea or organizing theme to guide it Florida connection: a visiting underwater archaeologist at the University of West Florida (UWF) demonstrating how photogrammetry turns shipwreck photos into 3D models in hours, work that used to take weeks of hand-drawing ABOUT THE BOOK: "Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past" by Dr. Sarah Parcak. Parcak is a pioneer of satellite archaeology who wrote the first textbook on the subject, a National Geographic Explorer, and a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the 2016 TED Prize winner and founder of GlobalXplorer, a community-science platform that invites anyone to help spot potential archaeological sites in satellite imagery. RESOURCES & LINKS: Part 1 of our Archaeology from Space series: "Space Archaeology Found 18,000 Hidden Sites" - https://youtu.be/-0QkJZfJBf4 Part 2: "Hunting Vikings with Satellites" - https://youtu.be/IF9nxTp4TVk [FPAN resource — e.g., a page on remote sensing, satellite archaeology, or how archaeologists locate sites: add link] GlobalXplorer - Parcak's citizen-science satellite archaeology platform: https://www.globalxplorer.org The real Tanis (San el-Hagar) and the treasures of Psusennes I - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanis Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/ #archaeologybooksforfun #ArchaeologyFromSpace #AncientEgypt

Hunting Vikings with Satellites | Archaeology from Space (Part 2 of 5)

Can satellites really find lost Viking settlements? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak, following her satellite search for Norse sites along the coast of North America and Newfoundland. They unpack how buried turf longhouses reveal themselves from orbit through subtle changes in vegetation, why North American archaeology is worlds apart from Egyptology, and how a dig that "fails" can still be a scientific win. A must-listen for anyone curious about space archaeology, satellite remote sensing, and the Norse exploration of the Americas. WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE: - Hunting lost Norse (Viking) settlements in Newfoundland and along the North American coast with satellite imagery and remote sensing, and why real archaeology is about everyday life, not gold or "lost cities" - How buried turf longhouses and their outbuildings appear from space as faint vegetation and soil marks, plus pareidolia: the trap of "seeing" structures that aren't there ("a needle in a haystack made of needles") - A what-archaeologists-actually-think moment: why a dig with no blockbuster find still counts as science, testing the method and gathering negative data is real progress (with a clarification that the book was not suggesting Vikings were vegetarians) - Regional connection: Barbara and Tristan weighing the book's claims about fieldwork hardship against the reality of North American and Florida field conditions ABOUT THE BOOK: "Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past" by Dr. Sarah Parcak. Parcak is a pioneer of satellite archaeology who wrote the first textbook on the subject, a National Geographic Explorer, and a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the 2016 TED Prize winner and founder of GlobalXplorer°, a citizen-science platform that invites anyone to help spot potential archaeological sites in satellite imagery. RESOURCES & LINKS: - Part 1 of our Archaeology from Space series: "Space Archaeology Found 18,000 Hidden Sites" - https://youtu.be/-0QkJZfJBf4 - GlobalXplorer° - Parcak's citizen-science satellite archaeology platform: https://www.globalxplorer.org - L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (Parks Canada) - the first known Viking site in North America: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows - Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/ #archaeologybooksforfun #ArchaeologyFromSpace #Vikings

Space Archaeology Found 18,000 Hidden Sites | Archaeology from Space (Part 1 of 5)

In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan kick off their discussion of "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak, exploring how satellite imagery and remote sensing technology are transforming the way archaeologists find and study sites around the world. From Cold War spy satellites declassified in 1995 to a study estimating 18,000 unrecorded pre-Columbian sites in the Amazon basin, this episode is essential listening for anyone interested in spacearchaeology, remote sensing, and the future of archaeological discovery. ____ WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE - How satellite imagery is used to identify archaeological sites, and why it's only the first step before ground truthing - The origins of space archaeology, from WWI aerial balloons to Cold War spy satellites to modern sub-meter resolution imagery - What archaeologists actually think about the "space archaeology" label; and why Barbara's friend had a point about GPS - How the technology connects to everyday CRM and regional archaeology work, including a Leon County GIS example ____ ABOUT THE BOOK "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak introduces readers to the field of satellite remote sensing in archaeology. Parcak is an Egyptologist and NASA-funded researcher who has been credited with identifying thousands of potential archaeological sites from space and has spoken widely about the technology's potential to revolutionize the field. ____ RESOURCES & LINKS: - Leon County GIS mapping tool: https://www.leoncountyfl.gov/gis - Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/ #SpaceArchaeology #RemoteSensing #ArchaeologyBooksForFun

Duane's Set the Dogs on Us! | Relics: A Faye Lonchamp Mystery (Finale - Part 5 of 5)

This is the finale of Mary Anna Evans' archaeology-themed murder mystery "Relics", and the last stretch is pure chaos with answers, motives, and a whole lot of running for your life. In this episode, Barbara and Tristan wrap up the story with the final reveals, the fallout from the forgery scheme, and the motives behind what’s been happening in (and around) the dig. Even with all of this, we still make time to talk about real-world archaeology along the way. Next up, we’re starting a new book: "Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes the Past" by Sarah Parcak. ___ Support the show! https://www.fpan.us/give/ #archaeologybooksforfun #murdermystery #mysterynovel

An Artifact Forgery Ring | Relics: A Faye Longchamp Mystery (Part 4 of 5)

This episode pulls back the curtain on an artifact forgery scheme in "Relics: A Faye Longchamp Mystery" by Mary Anna Evans; and suddenly a lot of earlier “weird stuff” starts to make sense. Barbara and Tristan unpack another mysterious death, a forgery ring moving fake antiquities, and a little relationship drama. Was it murder? Who’s behind the fakes? And has Joe finally found love? ___ Episode 1 of "Relics" https://youtu.be/XzFBWgl7jvI ___ Support the show! https://www.fpan.us/give/ #archaeologybooksforfun #murdermystery #bookclub