Has Google Earth found El Dorado?

AmazoniaThe legendary lost civilization of El Dorado, said to be in the Amazon jungle, has led many explorers to come up empty-handed for nearly 500 years. According to a report in the journal Antiquity, three scientists have found more than 200 earthworks (dating from A.D. 200 to 1283) in Brazil’s upper Amazon basin near Bolivia. Their studies were based on archaeological work in Brazil and Google Earth images.

David Grann, author of the “Lost City of Z” (about Colonel Percy Fawcett’s expeditions in search of the ancient city), said in The Sunday Times: “It shatters the prevailing notions of what the Amazon looked like before the arrival of Christopher Columbus … These discoveries show the Amazon was, in fact, home to a large civilisation that pre-dated the Incas and built an extraordinarily sophisticated society with monumental earthworks.” [Read Rolf’s interview with Grann in his Travel Writers interview series.]

The success of satellite imagery to locate previously unknown earthworks and ancient structures is due in large part to the gradual deforestation of the areas in which they exist—in this case, the Amazon rain forest. According to Grann in a New Yorker article this month, “Alas, the discovery of this glorious civilization is due to another tragedy—the vanishing of the once great jungles its people inhabited.” So, while it may be a blessing that we’re able to learn more about ancient civilizations, it’s also a curse that we’re losing more and more of the rain forest.

CNET says the scientists, led by Martti Pärssinen, seem “a little cross that Google’s technology isn’t helping them more” due to poor coverage for non-urban areas. They believe that what’s been found amounts to only 10 percent of the ruins and geometric earthworks that are there. Isn’t that always the case—you think technology is helping you out until you realize that it’s holding you back?

Posted by | Comments (2)  | January 15, 2010
Category: Travel News


2 Responses to “Has Google Earth found El Dorado?”

  1. Travel-Writers-Exchange.com Says:

    Leave it to Google to help find lost cities. It’s unfortunate that you can only see a small percentage of the ruins. Then again, maybe that’s for the best.

    BTW: totally agree with the point about discovering more about ancient civilizations at the cost of losing some of the Amazon Rain Forest. It’s a catch-22!

  2. David Says:

    If Google earth can do such wonders how is it not possible to locate Terrorist camps with the help of Google earth?