Archaeologists have used high-resolution satellite images in the
visual spectrum to identify numerous archaeological sites. This
work has been most productive in desert areas, where ground
cover is scarce or lacking. Archaeologists working on the
Pacific Coast of South America, especially Peru, and in the
Sahara, especially Egypt, have used images from such systems as
Google Earth to identify sites, especially those with built
structures, that are worthy of further exploration. However,
there is much in the archaeological record that is not as
apparent in the visual spectrum as buildings. Humans in the past
have wrought changes in the earth’s surface through activities
like cultivating fields, digging irrigation ditches, creating
earthen mounds for burial or religious purposes. Evidence of
such activities is not usually visible in visible-spectrum
observation, but infra-red and near infra-red may reveal current
and past patterns of vegetation that reflect past human
activity. My project with the Yale Center f