It would take archaeological teams working on foot several lifetimes to survey all of Peru. With the power of satellites and the crowd, it could happen in a matter of months. Why Peru? Three reasons, says Parcak. First: the ideal past. While people are familiar with the Inca and Machu Picchu, Peru is home to\u00a0archaeological sites from many different cultures in many different time periods. Second: the ideal climate, mentioned above, which has preserved the past so well. Third: the ideal timing. The\u00a0Peruvian government is highly motivated to curb the looting\u00a0of cultural artifacts, but needs data to fuel their efforts.<\/p>\n
Below, a look at some of Peru\u2019s ancient cultures, along with the big questions archaeologists still have about them. There\u2019s a chance that\u00a0new sites found with GlobalXplorer could offer new clues in solving these mysteries.<\/p>\n
Peru\u2019s early cultures, sharp timekeepers.<\/strong> In 2006, archaeologists uncovered an ancient astronomical observatory<\/a> just a few miles outside Lima, with the aforementioned frowning sculpture inside. This ancient temple dates back 4,200 years, and on December 21 and June 21 \u2014 the solstices, which mark the beginning and end of the harvest season \u2014 it would align with the sunrise and sunset. The site was built by one of Peru\u2019s pre-ceramic cultures, which dotted the landscape from about 3000 to 1800 BC. The site suggests that their artistic skill and scientific understanding were way ahead of what we previously assumed.<\/p>\n In 2007, another site<\/a> pointed to ancient Peruvians\u2019 penchant for time-keeping. The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo \u2014 a series of pillars, each 7 to 20 feet high, almost like Stonehenge in a straight line \u2014 showed the sun\u2019s position throughout the year. A long corridor funneled viewers to the right spot for observation. Could these pillars have inspired the Inca, who also tracked the movement of the sun?<\/p>\n The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo\u00a0are a feat of engineering that mark the sun\u2019s position throughout the year. Who were the people who constructed them 2,300 years ago?\u00a0Photo by David Edgar<\/a> (CC BY-SA)<\/em>.<\/p>\n In their report, the archaeologists who found the 4,200-year-old temple\u00a0noted their luck, as treasure hunters had dug a 20-foot hole right above the site. The temple could have been found and stripped clean. With each object looters take, they undermine our ability to understand the people who created a site. Chase Childs, project manager for GlobalXplorer, says this means the race is on. \u201cLooters are doing a great job of uncovering these sites,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s real urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n What are the Nazca Lines about?<\/strong> An owl-like figure carved in a mountain. An enormous spider in the desert. A monkey with a spiraling tail. When commercial airlines began flying over southern Peru decades ago, people started noticing these ancient geoglyphs \u2014 now known as the Nazca Lines<\/a>, for the Nazca culture that lived there from 100 to 600 AD. The Nazca-Palpa Project<\/a> has done a long-term study of these lines, and their research suggests that they were pathways for ceremonial processions, perhaps intended to bring renewed water. The Nazca may have found these ceremonies increasingly important as their region changed from a river-rich delta to one of the driest places on Earth.<\/p>\n This\u00a0owl-like geoglyph etched in a mountainside in the Nazca Desert stands\u00a0about 100 feet tall. Was this an ancient billboard? Photo by Aleksandr P. Thibaudeau <\/a>(CC BY-NC-ND).<\/p>\n But a newer discovery offers another possible explanation. In 2014, archaeologists studied similar lines created by the Paracas<\/a>, a culture that collapsed around 100 BC and gave way to the Nazca. Some Paracas lines stretch for nearly two miles, and archaeologists believe they were created to point people coming down from the highlands toward trading posts. Like billboards on the highway, the lines might have gotten longer and flashier as trading sites competed.<\/p>\n Nazca sites are in danger too. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of illegal mining going on,\u201d says Parcak. Childs adds that because the area is isolated, it\u2019s especially susceptible to looting. \u201cWhen you look at [satellite imagery] of this region, you can see entire towns that have been looted. Imagine all that history, gone,\u201d he says. But satellite images are revealing\u00a0potential new sites. \u201cThat\u2019s with four of us looking for a couple of days,\u201d he says. \u201cImagine setting loose 10,000 people and having them looking for months.\u201d<\/p>\n A satellite photo reveals potential looting\u00a0in the Nazca Desert. What sites have treasure hunters discovered, and what history is lost as a result?\u00a0Image copyright Digital Globe.<\/em><\/p>\n The mysterious priestesses of the Moche.<\/strong> The Moche thrived in Peru from 200 to 850 AD, and are known for their beautiful pottery and giant adobe mounds, with intricate wall murals<\/a> inside. One major theme running through their art? Human sacrifice, with goblets of blood being offered to the gods. Archaeologists have debated whether the Moche sacrificed elites to ensure prosperity, or if their sacrifices were more about war as cities vied for power. Recent evidence suggests the latter. In 2013, archaeologists analyzed oxygen isotopes<\/a> found in the remains of 34 Moche sacrifice victims, to determine where they had lived. The results showed that, over time, the victims came from further away, suggesting conquest.<\/p>\n The Moche are\u00a0known for their intricate murals, like this one at Huaca de la Luna. Their art often\u00a0depicted human sacrifices. What were these sacrifices about? Photo by Kike Calvo\/National Geographic Creative.<\/p>\n Another mystery of this culture: what role did female elites play? Archaeologists have uncovered tombs of women who seem to have been priestesses or queens \u2014 or both. In one case<\/a>, a woman\u2019s skeleton was found in a red tomb, with a copper mask and sandals. She was raised on a platform, surrounded by the bodies of sacrifices. A tall silver goblet stood beside her \u2014 the same kind shown in Moche art. In another tomb<\/a>, a 1,500-year-old female mummy was found with a cache of gold objects and fine weapons, symbols of power you wouldn\u2019t necessarily expect to see buried with women. Unwrapping this mummy took months, and when archaeologists finished, they were surprised to find the woman\u2019s arms, legs and feet covered in tattoos \u2014 some of geometric patterns and some of animals.<\/p>\n New Moche sites may make these practices clearer. But finding these sites will be a challenge, as the Moche used mud bricks that don\u2019t show up as well in satellite imagery. \u201cThey\u2019re earth-built structures, so they won\u2019t look like buildings,\u201d says Childs. \u201cWhat you\u2019ll be looking for is some kind of visible change in a landscape. You\u2019re going to look and say, \u2018Is that bump just a hill, or is it manmade?\u2019\u201d GlobalXplorer users will get a field guide with examples of structures from all these cultures, so they can give an informed opinion.<\/p>\n This copper\u00a0funerary mask\u00a0was discovered\u00a0in the tomb of a\u00a0Moche priestess-queen\u00a0who lived 1,200 years ago. What was her\u00a0role in society?\u00a0Photo courtesy of Luis Jaime Castillo Butters.<\/p>\n The Sic\u00e1n, an ancient water cult.<\/strong> In 2011, archaeologists found the tomb of a Sic\u00e1n priestess buried with eight corpses, possibly intended to accompany her into the afterlife. The finding was fascinating \u2014 but not as interesting as what the team discovered a year later when they dug below. Here, they found a basement tomb<\/a>, built to flood with water. They found four waterlogged bodies inside \u2014 one of them wearing pearls, turquoise and beads, and covered with a copper sheet with a wavelike pattern. The Sic\u00e1n lived along the Peruvian coasts from 800 to 1375 AD and have been characterized as a \u201cwater cult.\u201d According to legend, the Sic\u00e1n believed themselves to be descendants of Naylamp, a god who emerged from the sea and walked ashore on crushed shells. Ancient ceremonial knives show Naylamp sitting cross-legged on a throne. In 2010, archaeologists excavated a Sic\u00e1n temple<\/a>\u00a0and found a throne identical to the one Naylamp sits on in their iconography. The finding suggests that Sic\u00e1n rulers may have considered themselves demigods. But the flooding tomb? Indiana Jones<\/i> fans might suspect it\u2019s a booby trap, but experts think the burial at sea could be related to renewing water during a drought, or attached to ideas of the ocean as a space of rebirth.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll need new sites in order to understand. Childs stresses that it\u2019s not just artifacts that tell the story of a people. \u201cArchaeologists are rarely interested in pretty things,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s, \u2018Where was this pot found? What was inside it? Was it buried with someone? Was there a particular orientation?\u2019 These things can tell us something about religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n The unusual records of the Inca.<\/strong> The Inca ruled Peru from 1438 to 1532 AD, and their cities still inspire awe. \u201cThey were incredible architects,\u201d says Parcak. \u201cThey selected stones like puzzle pieces, and then pounded them together so they fit almost perfectly without mortar.\u201d Interestingly, however, the Inca didn\u2019t keep written records. Instead, they used quipus<\/a>, an intricate system of colored and knotted strings. Experts today are baffled by them. They could be a record-keeping system, with knot placement denoting numeric value, or they could be a set of coded histories. Archaeologist Hiram Bingham, who located Machu Picchu in 1911, spun a fascinating tale about them\u00a0in his book\u00a0Inca Land<\/i><\/a>. His story takes us to Tampu-tocco, a mythic origin city, akin to a Garden of Eden, from which the founders of the Inca empire emerged. According to Bingham, a soothsayer at Tampu-tocco believed that the gods disapproved of the invention of writing. So the king forbid it. Quipu rose up in its place.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Inca used\u00a0quipus, colored and knotted strings, rather than written records. What exactly do they mean?\u00a0Photo by Claus Ableiter (CC BY-SA).<\/p>\n In 1913, Bingham wrote in National Geographic<\/i><\/a> about the excitement he felt when, \u201cbeneath the shade of the trees, we could make out a maze of ancient walls.\u201d Though the locals called the place Machu Picchu, he was convinced he\u2019d found Tampu-tocco \u2014 an idea long since rejected. Today, many think Machu Picchu was a sacred retreat, many think it was a royal estate and many think it was both. It\u2019s unlikely GlobalXplorer users will locate an unknown site of its scale, but there could be noble estates or farmsteads out there. \u201cHopefully, we find cool stone buildings on top of mountains,\u201d he says. \u201cWe may see stone construction on an exposed face that\u2019s really isolated, or that\u2019s been missed because you can only see it from a top-down perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n Machu Picchu was\u00a0discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911. Will GlobalXplorer participants find\u00a0anything from its era? Sarah\u00a0Parcak says\u00a0all\u00a0unknown sites will help us understand the cultures\u00a0of\u00a0Peru.\u00a0Photo by Flickr user Iceligh<\/a>t (CC BY).<\/p>\n It\u2019s ironic \u2014 the high-tech, remote nature of all this searching may make Parcak\u2019s work seem like a far cry from the days of Indiana Jones<\/em>-style archaeology \u2014 but the urgency she feels to find ancient sites before looters do is the same kind of race against time and crime that fuels every good Tomb Raider<\/em>-style narrative.<\/p>\n Parcak doesn\u2019t have the time\u00a0to appreciate the irony, though. Her ultimate goal in Peru isn\u2019t just finding these sites, but helping create a model for how a country\u2019s ministry of antiquities and local populations can take ownership and responsibility for preserving ancient sites. The sites of all these cultures are in grave danger.\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t just want to find sites to say we found them,\u201d she says. \u201cWe also want to find ways to help protect the cultural heritage we all share.\u201d<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Sarah Parcak\u2019s GlobalXplorer<\/a>\u00a0platform will allow anyone with an internet connection to notate looting pits and discover unknown ancient sites.\u00a0S<\/i>ign up for email updates<\/i>\u00a0to<\/i>\u00a0get\u00a0early access<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/i>DigitalGlobe\u00a0will provide satellite imagery for the platform, and the National Geographic Society will\u00a0contribute rich content. Archaeologist\u00a0Luis Jaime Castillo Butters will serve as co-lead\u00a0investigator in Peru, and the\u00a0Sustainable Preservation Initiative will support communities around sites.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Kate Torgovnick May<\/a><\/strong> is a writer at TED.com. She can also solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than two minutes. Read more about her work at KateTorgovnickMay.com.<\/p>\n Fuemte: ideas.ted.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ancient Peru was home to many cultures, most of them still quite mysterious to us. But as Sarah Parcak directs\u00a0her citizen-science\u00a0archaeology project at the Peruvian landscape, the invisible past could\u00a0make a comeback. A mummified macaw with orange and blue feathers. … Sigue leyendo ![\"The](\"https:\/\/tedideas.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/06\/thirteentowersofchanquillofromfortress.jpg?w=770&h=565\")
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<\/p>\nAbout the author<\/h3>\n