Laser technology reveals lost cities in Cambodia – Diário de Notícias – Lisbon

Archaeologists mapped the terrain with a helicopter and discovered the cities and channels hidden under the jungle, in the region of Angkor

Angkor, in Cambodia, it is especially known for its imposing temples, such as Angkor Wat: it is what remains visible of the mysterious the Khmer empire, that there flourished between the VIII centuries a. C., and XV d. C. The history of this empire, however, is about to be unveiled, after a group of archaeologists have discovered, with the use of laser beams, which under the jungle conceals a network of cities, of roads and canals, that may soon provide new information about the life in the region at that time.

The archaeologists already knew that around the temples, in an area of 400 square kilometres, there would be cities. There are in some places remains of ancient roads and water pipes. But what the association Riels Archaelogical Deal Initiative (CALI) and discovered – thanks precisely to deal with, a technique of visualization by laser – was a series of cities buried in the jungle, the existence of which was unknown. The new map of the underground, now lets make digs aimed at the target, saving you years of work through trial and error. “All we got for the experience of spending hours trying to chop forests of bamboo and scrub, full of thorns, in the hope of finding anything,” recalls Shaun Mackey, one of the archaeologists of the association CALI, quoted by The New York Times.

studies with the deal, which required only some hours of flight time in helicopters with the equipment on board to do the mapping, the way we work in the region has changed and the results will start to appear.

Shaun Mackey and his colleague Kong Leaksmy recently decided to investigate on the ground one of the points that appear on the map as one of the “winners”, with structures built in the basement and barely came to the site, it only took them a closer look to find fragments of pottery of the time. “It is not as sexy as a temple, but to an archaeologist it is important to find this evidence of cultural activity,” commented Shaun Mackey. Scientists expect to find many more artifacts that allow to trace the history of the Khmer empire, about which one knows very little, because it remained visible for little more than their temples.