"Tomb Raider" Has Nothing on Real Archaeological Tech

Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News

July 31, 2003

In the movie Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, intrepid archaeologist Lara Croft, played by Angelina Jolie, uses state-of-the-art technology like a multipurpose digital media device—the Panasonic AV20/30 eWear/d-Snap—and a customized Jeep that can handle Africa's rugged off-road conditions.

But as well equipped as she is, Lara Croft has nothing on the real-life archaeologists when it comes to technology.

While dirt diggers are trading in their trowels for ground-penetrating radar and remote sensing robots, underwater explorers have added multi-beam sonar and real-time video to their arsenal of tools.

New technology is transforming the field of archaeology, allowing researchers to make new finds and analyze sites in a way they were not able to do in the past.

"There are some fabulous new tools out there," said Cheryl Ward, a nautical archaeology professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Sonar Images

New science and technology are revolutionizing marine archaeology in particular. Many of the mysteries of the sea—from shipwrecks to sunken cities—lay buried at depths that have previously been beyond exploration.

Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and others use high-resolution, side-scan and multi-beam sonar aboard ships to scan the bottom of the ocean. The new technology produces three-dimensional models of the sea floor.

High-resolution side-scan sonar can be used to locate shipwrecks on the ocean floor and create accurate depictions of the wreck sites.

Last year, NOAA obtained three new side-scan sonar images of the coastal steam ship Portland, which sank off the coast of Massachusetts in 1898 and now rests on the ocean floor. The images clearly show the side-by-side smoke stacks and the metal walking beam that provided power to the paddle wheels. A mission to explore the Portland is scheduled for next year.

In one of the most technologically advanced expeditions ever, famed undersea explorer Robert Ballard, who discovered the RMS Titanic in 1975 and is a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, leads a team of scientists this summer to explore ancient shipwrecks in the Black Sea.

Ballard brought with him a whole array of new toys, including the first undersea vehicle designed specifically for deep water excavation: Hercules. This new robot carries advanced visual and acoustic sensors and high-definition television systems that make it possible to do archeological excavation of delicate objects in water with poor visibility.

When the expedition moves to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Ballard will send Hercules to investigate two Phoenician shipwrecks, dating back to 750 B.C., which lay buried under 1,000 feet (300 meters) of water.

"This should give us new insight into the legendary Phoenician mariners and the cargoes they carried across the Mediterranean," Ballard said before taking off on the expedition.

Mission Control

Ballard's expedition will also be the first to bring deep-sea exploration live to scientists, students, and the public via new satellite and Internet technologies.

The team of scientists will be able to capture video and audio images from the ocean floor and send them in real time to fellow scientists at the Innerspace Center, a "mission control" built by the EDS Corporation at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography.

"This technology platform is a huge step forward in undersea exploration because it allows scientists to be a very real part of an expedition such as this without leaving the country," said Andy Allbee, manager of the EDS team that implemented the new technology.

When Ballard discovered the first hydrothermal vents off the Galápagos Islands in 1977 there were no other marine geologists with him. It took three years before another geologist could examine the discovery. Today, a geologist sitting in a U.S. laboratory could have made that analysis using real-time video.

Robots and Radar

A team of researchers from New York's Columbia University is bringing digital archaeology to the Egyptian desert. Studying the ancient ruins of Amheida at the Dakhla Oasis, a 13-hour drive from Cairo, the scientists are using a robot equipped with a remote-sensing device to create 3-D subterranean images that will help pinpoint where to begin excavations.

Archaeologists could also benefit from the work done in subterranean robotics for other fields, particularly the mapping and exploration of abandoned mines, buried pipes, and hazardous waste.

The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is developing an autonomous wheeled robot to explore and map the state's coal mines. The robot is armed with cameras, tilt and sinkage sensors, laser scanners, and a gyroscope to help it surmount obstacles it may encounter. It uses perception technology to build 3-D maps from its data.

"Archaeologists could use this robot to explore an ancient tomb," said Scott Thayer, one of the lead scientists on the mine mapping project.

The Robotics Institute has also developed robots that can search for meteorites in Antarctica. Using computer sensing, the robots can detect surface meteorites obscured to the human eye by blowing or drifting snow.

What's next? One thing is for sure, Lara Croft will have to shop for some better gadgetry if she wants to keep up with her archeological peers.