Satellite View - of Ancient Mayan Temple

Mayan Temple Satellite view

The ancient Mayan astrologers aligned their temples with the stars and now modern archeologists have found through satellite view ruins of hidden cities in the jungles of Guatemala from the sky.

Archeologists and NASA scientists joined five years ago in search of clues about the mysterious collapse of Mayan civilization, which flourished in Central America and southern Mexico for 1,000 years before mysteriously abandoning their cities around 900 AD.

Using images of high resolution satellites, a team of archaeologists and NASA astronomers have unearthed through satellite view ruins of five Mayan cities had been hidden in the jungles of Guatemala for over a millennium.

The Maya built with limestone and stucco. As abandoned buildings disintegrate, chemicals from the stones seep into the soil, preventing the growth of some plants and affecting the chemistry of others that continue to grow.

Satellite View of Ancient Mayan Temple

From an altitude of 640 kilometers above Earth's surface, satellite view like IKONOS can see through clouds and the dense jungle to discover those subtle differences in the color of vegetation and thus on the map mark the location of Mayan ruins most of them in the jungle areas virtually inaccessible.

Archaeologist William Saturno and his fellow researchers at NASA, Bill Irwin and Tom Sever, hope satellite view of these images also provide new clues about the causes of the collapse of Maya civilization that suddenly disappeared around 900 AD. Available satellite view data thus far indicate that the main cause was the destruction of forests. William Saturno, who recently discovered extensive five sites, with hundreds of buildings using a spy satellite that can see through clouds and forest to reveal the subtle differences in vegetation . Saturno said the satellite images greatly facilitated the discovery of ruins covered for centuries by dense creepers and trees.Without trees, erosion increased and decreased the fertile topsoil. In addition, deforestation caused an increase in 6 degrees of average temperature, also changing rainfall patterns. The information on the fate of the Maya, Sever argues, could help modern societies make better decisions and not repeat "past mistakes".

The initial idea was to seek first archaeologist satellite images to find the source of water near his excavation camp at San Bartolo, about 53 miles from the nearest town. NASA gave him a photo of solar radiation reflected on the wide variety of plants in the region and the big surprise of Saturn was seeing a pattern of discoloration in the satellite image that outlined some of the buildings he had discovered. Using a GPS device, marked on a map the locations of other discolorations nearby and found an area of Mayan architecture had not been discovered.

The Maya built with limestone and stucco. As the abandoned buildings will disintegrate, chemicals from the stones are mixed with the soil, preventing some plants grow around structures or affect the chemistry of those who can grow. Satellites can detect the differences and the result is a map of the buried structures by vegetation at a distance of 640 miles above Earth.

The archaeologist said satellite view photos was provided with the search of the buildings that were hidden for centuries. "I was like fishing in a barrel," Saturno said in an interview. With new technology, Saturn has found five new sites near San Bartolo with hundreds of buildings. And he expects more discoveries like the one made in 2001, when he found a mural dating from 100 BC, depicting the Mayan creation myth and a real ceremony, which he called the Sistine Chapel of the Mayan world.

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