Announcing the prize in a blog post, TED described Sarah Parcak, an anthropology professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the founder of Laboratory for Global Observation at the university, as a “modern-day Indiana Jones” for her achievements.
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Parcak uses infrared images from satellites to identify ancient sites, and is pioneering the field of space archeology. And this is how she hopes to use her prize money. Organizers of the TED Prize credited her with using modern satellite infrared imagery to help locate and save ancient sites. “I’ve spent a lot of time, as have many of my colleagues, looking at the destruction”, she said. Now, the nonprofit forum TED, famous for its 18-minute talks, has given Parcak its most prestigious prize: $1 million to fund a project of her choice, The NY Times reports.
In a statement released by TED, Parcak notes how devastating the conflagration of the Middle East has been to the archaeological record: “The last four and half years have been horrific for archaeology. I am committed to using this Prize to engage the world in finding and protecting these global sites”.
These satellites that are placed almost 500 km above Earth and are equipped with thermal functions and infra-red – which can penetrate the earth’s surface thanks to its wavelength -, have the technology necessary to identify objects on firm ground less than 1 meter in diameter.
On the space archaeology field, Parcak states that it’s not so much something out of a sci-fi movie, as it is about trying to find evidence of past human lives on Earth. “The answer is yes, but we don’t know the scale”, she told The NY Times.
“The most exciting part of my job (is) the idea that by mapping out archaeological sites, by using new technologies and trying to think very differently about how we see landscapes, we have a better chance of understanding who we are and what we are doing here”. As of now, she is fighting against the looting of important sites in the Middle East. She had earlier reported that social conflicts in the Middle East has resulted in the loss of many archaeologically important sites, including the revolution taken place in Egypt in 2011.
The annual TED Prize has grown from $100,000 to a million dollars since it was first awarded in the year 2005, to U2 band leader Bono and his vision of fighting poverty and disease.
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“People were looting tombs 5,000 years ago in Egypt as soon as people were buried but the problem is only getting worse and worse”.
