National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Google Earth, Satellite Maps Boost Armchair Archaeology


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The outline of an ancient Roman villa can be seen clearly in a farmer's field in this 1979 aerial shot. The complex's stone and cement walls are about 23 inches (60 centimeters) below the surface, but their presence affects crops' ability to grow in the soil above them.

Such "negative crop marks" are just one of the clues experts and amateurs alike can now seek from the comfort of their computer desks when viewing satellite images via the popular desktop globe Google Earth.

Photograph courtesy Scott Madry