ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sarah Parcak - Satellite archaeologist + TED Prize winner
Like a modern-day Indiana Jones, Sarah Parcak uses satellite images to locate lost ancient sites. The winner of the 2016 TED Prize, her wish is to protect the world’s shared cultural heritage.

Why you should listen

There may be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of undiscovered ancient sites across the globe. Sarah Parcak wants to locate them. As a space archaeologist, she analyzes high-resolution imagery collected by satellites in order to identify subtle changes to the Earth’s surface that might signal man-made features hidden from view. A TED Senior Fellow and a National Geographic Explorer, Parcak wrote the textbook on satellite archaeology and founded the Laboratory for Global Observation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her goal: to make the world's invisible history visible once again.

In Egypt, Parcak's techniques have helped locate 17 potential pyramids, and more than 3,100 potential forgotten settlements. She's also made discoveries in the Viking world (as seen in the PBS Nova special, Vikings Unearthed) and across the Roman Empire (as shown in the BBC documentary, Rome’s Lost Empire). Her methods also offer a new way to understand how ancient sites are being affected by looting and urban development. By satellite-mapping Egypt and comparing sites over time, Parcak has noted a 1,000 percent increase in looting since 2009. It’s likely that millions of dollars worth of artifacts are stolen each year. Parcak hopes that, through her work, unknown sites can be protected to preserve our rich, vibrant history.

As the winner of the 2016 TED Prize, Parcak asked the world to help in this important work. By building a citizen science platform for archaeology, GlobalXplorer.org, Parcak invites anyone with an internet connection to help find the next potential looting pit or unknown tomb. GlobalXplorer launched on January 30, 2017, with volunteers working together to map Peru. Other countries will follow, as the platform democratizes discovery and makes satellite-mapping rapid and cost-effective. 

 

More profile about the speaker
Sarah Parcak | Speaker | TED.com
TED2012

Sarah Parcak: Archaeology from space

Sarah Parcak: Arheologija iz vesolja

Filmed:
1,129,965 views

V tem kratkem govoru Sarah Parcak, članica TED-a, predstavlja področje "vesoljske arehologije" -- kako z uporabo satelitskih posnetkov poiskati namige, ki bi vodili do izgubljenih nahajališč preteklih civilizacij.
- Satellite archaeologist + TED Prize winner
Like a modern-day Indiana Jones, Sarah Parcak uses satellite images to locate lost ancient sites. The winner of the 2016 TED Prize, her wish is to protect the world’s shared cultural heritage. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
When I was a childotrok growingrastoče up in MaineMaine,
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Ko sem odraščala v Mainu,
00:18
one of my favoritenajljubši things to do
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je bila ena mojih najljubših stvari
00:20
was to look for sandpesek dollarsdolarjev on the seashoresmorskih obal of MaineMaine,
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iskanje lupin morskih ježkov na obalah Maina.
00:24
because my parentsstarši told me it would bringprinesi me luckSreča.
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Starši so mi namreč rekli, da mi bodo prinesli srečo.
00:26
But you know, these shellslupine, they're hardtežko to find.
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Ampak te lupine je zelo težko najti.
00:29
They're coveredpokrita in sandpesek. They're difficulttežko to see.
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Pokriva jih pesek. Težko jih je opaziti.
00:32
HoweverVendar, overtimečez čas, I got used to looking for them.
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Sčasoma pa sem jih vedno lažje našla.
00:36
I startedzačel seeingvidenje shapesoblike
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Pozorna sem postala na oblike
00:37
and patternsvzorce that helpedpomagal me to collectzbiranje them.
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in vzorce, po katerih sem se pri iskanju orientirala.
00:41
This grewnaraščal into a passionstrast for findingugotovitev things,
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Ta igra je prerasla v strast po odkrivanju stvari,
00:44
a love for the pastpreteklost and archaeologyarheologija.
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v ljubezen do preteklosti in arheologije.
00:47
And eventuallysčasoma when I startedzačel studyingŠtudij EgyptologyEgiptologije,
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Ko sem začela študirati egiptologijo,
00:50
I realizedrealiziran that seeingvidenje with my nakedgola eyesoči alonesam wasn'tni bilo enoughdovolj.
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sem spoznala, da iskanje le s pomočjo lastnih oči ne bo dovolj.
00:55
Because all of the suddennenadoma in EgyptEgipt
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V Egiptu je namreč moja obala
00:57
my beachplaža had growngoji from a tinymajhen beachplaža in MaineMaine
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iz majcene obale Maina zrastla
01:01
to one eightosem hundredsto milesmilje long
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v več kot tisoč kilometrov dolgo obalo
01:03
nextNaslednji to the NileNila,
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ob Nilu
01:05
and my sandpesek dollarsdolarjev had growngoji
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in moje ježkove lupine so postale
01:07
to the sizevelikost of citiesmesta.
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velike kot mesta.
01:09
This is really what broughtprinesel me to usinguporabo satellitesatelit imageryslike.
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To je bil razlog, da sem pričela uporabljati satelitske posnetke.
01:13
For tryingposkušam to mapzemljevid the pastpreteklost, I knewvedel that I had to see differentlydrugače.
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Vedela sem, da moram videti na drug način, če želim orisati preteklost.
01:17
So I want to showshow you an exampleprimer of how we see differentlydrugače
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Želim vam pokazati primer, kako lahko vidimo na drugačen način,
01:20
usinguporabo the infraredinfrardeči.
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z uporabo infrardeče svetlobe.
01:22
This is a sitestran locatednahaja in the easternvzhodno EgyptianEgiptovski deltadelta
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To nahajališče je v zahodnem delu Egipčanske delte,
01:26
calledpozval BendixBendix.
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imenuje se Bendix.
01:27
And the sitestran visiblyvidno appearsse prikaže brownrjav,
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Na sliki je področje videti rjavo,
01:29
but when we use the infraredinfrardeči
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če pa uporabimo infrardečo svetlobo
01:31
and we processproces it, all of the suddennenadoma, usinguporabo falsenapačen colorbarva,
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in sliko obdelamo, potem je iznenada, z umetnim obarvanjem,
01:36
the sitestran appearsse prikaže as brightsvetlo pinkroza.
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nahajališče videti kot svetlo roza.
01:38
What you are seeingvidenje
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Kar vidite,
01:40
are the actualdejansko chemicalkemično changesspremembe to the landscapepokrajina
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so dejanske kemične spremembe v pokrajini,
01:43
causedpovzročil by the buildingstavbe materialsmaterialov and activitiesdejavnosti
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ki so jih povzročili grabdeni materiali in obrtne dejavnosti
01:46
of the ancientstarodavne EgyptiansEgipčani.
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starodavnih Egipčanov.
01:48
What I want to sharedeliti with you todaydanes
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Danes vam želim predstaviti način,
01:51
is how we'vesmo used satellitesatelit datapodatkov
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kako si s satelitskimi podatki pomagali
01:54
to find an ancientstarodavne EgyptianEgiptovski citymesto,
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pri iskanju starodavnega egipčanskega mesta,
01:56
calledpozval ItjtawyItjtawy,
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imenovanega Itjtawy,
01:58
missingpogrešam for thousandstisoče of yearslet.
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za katerega tisočletja nismo vedeli, kje leži.
02:00
ItjtawyItjtawy was ancientstarodavne Egypt'sEgipta capitalkapital
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Itjtawy je bilo glavno mesto starodavnega Egipta
02:03
for over fourštiri hundredsto yearslet,
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več kot štiristo let,
02:05
at a periodobdobje of time calledpozval the MiddleSrednji KingdomBritanija
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v obdobju, ki ga imenujemo Srednja država,
02:07
about fourštiri thousandtisoč yearslet agonazaj.
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pred približno štiri tisoč leti.
02:09
The sitestran is locatednahaja in the FaiyumProvinci Faiyum of EgyptEgipt
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Nahajališče leži v oazi Fajum v Egiptu
02:12
and sitestran is really importantpomembno because in the MiddleSrednji KingdomBritanija
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in je pomembno, saj je bil v času Srednje države
02:14
there was this great renaissancerenesansa for ancientstarodavne EgyptianEgiptovski artumetnost,
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velik preporid starodavne egipčanske umetnosti,
02:17
architecturearhitektura and religionreligija.
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arhitekture in religije.
02:20
EgyptologistsEgyptologists have always knownznano the sitestran of ItjtawyItjtawy
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Egiptologi so vedeli, da nahajališče Itjtawy
02:23
was locatednahaja somewherenekje nearblizu the pyramidspiramide
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leži nekje blizu piramid
02:26
of the two kingskralji who builtzgrajeno it, indicatednavedeno withinznotraj the redrdeča circleskroge here,
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dveh kraljev, ki sta ga zgradila, označeno tukaj z rdečima krogoma,
02:30
but somewherenekje withinznotraj this massiveogromno floodpoplave planeletalo.
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a nekje na tej velikanski poplavni ravnini.
02:32
This areaobmočje is hugeogromno --
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To področje je ogormno,
02:34
it's fourštiri milesmilje by threetri milesmilje in sizevelikost.
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velikost i štiri krat tri milje.
02:36
The NileNila used to flowtok right nextNaslednji to the citymesto of ItjtawyItjtawy,
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Nil je nekoč tekel tik ob mestu Itjtawy.
02:39
and as it shiftedpremaknjen and changedspremenjeno and movedpreselil over time to the eastvzhodno,
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Ko se je struga skozi čas pomikala vedno bolj proti vzhodu,
02:43
it coveredpokrita over the citymesto.
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je prekrila mesto.
02:45
So, how do you find a buriedpokopan citymesto
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Kako torej najti zakopano mesto
02:48
in a vastogromno landscapepokrajina?
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na tako velikem področju?
02:51
FindingIskanje it randomlynaključno would be the equivalentenakovredno
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Če bi se iskanja lotili nenačrtno, bi bilo, kot da bi
02:53
of locatingiskanje a needleigla in a haystackplast,
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iskali iglo v kopici sena,
02:55
blindfoldedz zavezanimi očmi wearingnošenje baseballbaseball mittsrokavice brez prstov.
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s prevezo čez oči, v debelih rokavicah.
02:58
So what we did is we used NASANASA topographytopografija datapodatkov
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Tako smo se poslužili Nasinih topografskih podatkov,
03:02
to mapzemljevid out the landscapepokrajina, very subtlesubtilno changesspremembe.
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da bi katrografirali področje in majhne razlike.
03:04
We startedzačel to be ablesposoben to see where the NileNila used to flowtok.
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Kmalu se nam je pred očmi zarisala struga, po kateri je nekoč tekel Nil.
03:08
But you can see in more detailpodrobnosti -- and even more interestingzanimivo --
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Še natančnejša analiza nam razkrije še nekaj bolj zanimivega.
03:11
this very slightrahlo raiseddvignjen areaobmočje
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Rahlo dvignjeno območje,
03:14
seenvidel withinznotraj the circlekrog up here, whichki we thought could possiblymorda be
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označuje ga tale krog, za katerega smo domnevali, da bi lahko bila
03:16
the locationlokacija of the citymesto of ItjtawyItjtawy.
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lokacija mesta Itjtawy.
03:18
So we collaboratedsodelovanje with the EgyptianEgiptovski scientistsznanstveniki
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S pomočjo egipčanskih znanstvenikov smo se tako lotili
03:21
to do coringKoring work, whichki you see here.
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vrtanja izvrtin, kar lahko vidite na tej sliki.
03:24
When I say coringKoring, it's like iceled coringKoring, but insteadnamesto tega of
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S tem imam v mislih izvrtine kot izvrtine v polarni led, a namesto
03:26
layersplasti of climatepodnebje changesprememba you're looking for layersplasti of humančlovek occupationpoklic.
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plasti podnebnih sprememb iščemo dokaze o človeški poselitvi.
03:30
And fivepet metersmetrov down,
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Na globini petih metrov,
03:32
underneathspodaj a thickdebel layerplast of mudblato,
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pod debelim slojem blata,
03:34
we foundnajdemo a densegosto layerplast of potterylončarstvo.
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smo tako našli debelo plast lončenine.
03:37
What this showskaže is that at this possiblemogoče locationlokacija
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To prikazuje, da smo na tej možni lokaciji
03:40
of ItjtawyItjtawy, fivepet metersmetrov down,
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mesta Itjtawy, pet metrov globoko
03:42
we have of layerplast of occupationpoklic for severalveč hundredsto yearslet
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naleteli na plast, ki nakazuje na večstoletno poselitev,
03:45
datingdating to the MiddleSrednji KingdomBritanija, datingdating to the exacttočno periodobdobje of time
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ki sega v čas Srednjega kraljestva in se sklada z obdobljem,
03:47
we think ItjtawyItjtawy is.
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v katerem naj bi obstajalo mesto Itjtawy.
03:49
We alsotudi foundnajdemo work stonekamen --
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Našli smo tudi obdelane poldrage kamne, na primer
03:52
carneliancarnelian, quartzkremen and agateahata that showskaže
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karneol, kremenjak in ahtat, kar nakazuje,
03:55
that there was a jewelersjewelers workshopdelavnica here.
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da so tukaj nekoč izdelovali nakit.
03:57
These mightmorda not look like much,
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Na prvi pogled to mogoče ni kaj veliko,
03:58
but when you think about the mostnajbolj commonpogosti stoneskamni
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a če pomislimo, katere kamne so najpogosteje uporabljali
04:01
used in jewelrynakit from the MiddleSrednji KingdomBritanija,
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pri izdelovanju nakita v času Srednje države,
04:03
these are the stoneskamni that were used.
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so bili v uporabi prav ti kanmi.
04:06
So, we have a densegosto layerplast of occupationpoklic
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Imamo torej debelo plast, ki kaže na poselitev.
04:08
datingdating to the MiddleSrednji KingdomBritanija at this sitestran.
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ki sega v obdobje Srednje države na tem območju.
04:10
We alsotudi have evidencedokazov of an eliteelita jewelersjewelers workshopdelavnica,
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Imamo tudi dokaze prestižni delavnici nakita,
04:13
showingprikazovanje that whateverkarkoli was there was a very importantpomembno citymesto.
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kar nakazuje, da je šlo za zelo pomembno mesto.
04:17
No ItjtawyItjtawy was here yetše,
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Na tej stopnji še ne govorimo o mestu Itjtawy,
04:18
but we're going to be returningvračanje to the sitestran
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a na to nahajališče se bomo še vračali
04:20
in the nearblizu futureprihodnost to mapzemljevid it out.
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v bljižni prihodnosti, da bi ga kartirali.
04:23
And even more importantlypomembno,
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še pomembnejše pa je,
04:25
we have fundingfinanciranje to trainvlak youngmladi EgyptiansEgipčani
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da imamo sredstva za izobraževanje mladih raziskovalcev iz Egipta
04:27
in the use of satellitesatelit technologytehnologijo
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o uporabi satelitske tehnologije,
04:29
so they can be the onestiste makingizdelavo great discoveriesodkritja as well.
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da jo bodo v prihodnje tudi sami uporabljali pri lovu na velika odkritja.
04:33
So I wanted to endkonec with my favoritenajljubši quotekvota
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Predstavitev želim zaključiti z meni najljubšim citatom
04:36
from the MiddleSrednji KingdomBritanija --
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iz časa Srednje države --
04:38
it was probablyverjetno writtennapisano at the citymesto of ItjtawyItjtawy fourštiri thousandtisoč yearslet agonazaj.
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najbrž je napis krasil vhod v mesto Itytawy, štiri tisoč let nazaj.
04:42
"SharingDelitev knowledgeznanje is the greatestnajvečji of all callingspoklice.
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"Širjenje znanja je največje poslanstvo.
04:45
There's nothing like it in the landzemljišče."
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Ničesar večjega ni v deželi."
04:47
So as it turnszavrti out, TEDTED was not foundedustanovljen in 1984 ADAD.
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Vse kaže, da TED ni bil ustanovljen leta 1948 n. š.,
04:53
(LaughterSmeh)
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(Smeh)
04:55
MakingIzdelava ideasideje actuallydejansko startedzačel in 1984 BCPR. N. ŠT.
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Širjenje idej se je pravzaprav začelo 1984 pr.n.št.,
05:01
at a not-lost-for-longne-izgubil-za-dolgo citymesto, foundnajdemo from abovenad.
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v za-kratek-čas-izgubljenem mestu, ki smo ga odkrili.
05:04
It certainlyzagotovo putsstavi findingugotovitev seashellsškoljke by the seashoreSeashore in perspectiveperspektive.
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Vsekakor dokritje postavlja iskanje školjk na obali v drugačno luč.
05:08
Thank you very much.
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Hvala za vašo pozornost.
05:10
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
05:12
Thank you.
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Hvala.
05:13
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
Translated by Anteja Jež
Reviewed by Irma Sutlic

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sarah Parcak - Satellite archaeologist + TED Prize winner
Like a modern-day Indiana Jones, Sarah Parcak uses satellite images to locate lost ancient sites. The winner of the 2016 TED Prize, her wish is to protect the world’s shared cultural heritage.

Why you should listen

There may be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of undiscovered ancient sites across the globe. Sarah Parcak wants to locate them. As a space archaeologist, she analyzes high-resolution imagery collected by satellites in order to identify subtle changes to the Earth’s surface that might signal man-made features hidden from view. A TED Senior Fellow and a National Geographic Explorer, Parcak wrote the textbook on satellite archaeology and founded the Laboratory for Global Observation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her goal: to make the world's invisible history visible once again.

In Egypt, Parcak's techniques have helped locate 17 potential pyramids, and more than 3,100 potential forgotten settlements. She's also made discoveries in the Viking world (as seen in the PBS Nova special, Vikings Unearthed) and across the Roman Empire (as shown in the BBC documentary, Rome’s Lost Empire). Her methods also offer a new way to understand how ancient sites are being affected by looting and urban development. By satellite-mapping Egypt and comparing sites over time, Parcak has noted a 1,000 percent increase in looting since 2009. It’s likely that millions of dollars worth of artifacts are stolen each year. Parcak hopes that, through her work, unknown sites can be protected to preserve our rich, vibrant history.

As the winner of the 2016 TED Prize, Parcak asked the world to help in this important work. By building a citizen science platform for archaeology, GlobalXplorer.org, Parcak invites anyone with an internet connection to help find the next potential looting pit or unknown tomb. GlobalXplorer launched on January 30, 2017, with volunteers working together to map Peru. Other countries will follow, as the platform democratizes discovery and makes satellite-mapping rapid and cost-effective. 

 

More profile about the speaker
Sarah Parcak | Speaker | TED.com