How did online volunteers help uncover 50 previously unrecorded Nazca lines?

In this series finale of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan close out Archaeology from Space by Sarah Parcak with its most hopeful idea: that anyone can join the search.

Through crowdsourcing projects like her own GlobalXplorer°, volunteers scanning satellite imagery helped record 14,000 new sites in Peru, including 50 Nazca lines nobody had documented before.

The finale also turns to the darker side of the field, from satellite-tracked looting in Egypt to the collectors who quietly drive the antiquities black market.

A must-listen for anyone curious about the Nazca lines, satellite archaeology, and how the public can help discover and protect the past.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• The series finale (chapters 10–12): the profession's challenges around diversity and access, satellite-tracked looting, and the book's closing argument that "space archaeology" can be for everyone

• Citizen science and crowdsourcing: how projects like Galaxy Zoo/Zooniverse and Parcak's GlobalXplorer° turn thousands of volunteers loose on scientific data

• A what-archaeologists-actually-think moment: why the collectors who create the demand, not the local diggers who take the risks, are the real drivers of looting, plus the Hobby Lobby / Museum of the Bible case where smuggled artifacts were mislabeled as "roof tiles"

• Florida connection: FPAN's Heritage Monitoring Scouts, a real citizen-science program where trained volunteers document and monitor archaeological sites threatened by hurricanes and erosion

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Dr. Sarah Parcak.

Parcak is a pioneer of satellite archaeology who wrote the first textbook on the subject, a National Geographic Explorer, and a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the 2016 TED Prize winner and founder of GlobalXplorer°, a citizen-science platform that invited anyone to help spot potential archaeological sites in satellite imagery.

RESOURCES & LINKS:

• Part 1 of our Archaeology from Space series: "Space Archaeology Found 18,000 Hidden Sites" - https://youtu.be/-0QkJZfJBf4

• Zooniverse: the citizen-science hub that grew out of Galaxy Zoo - https://www.zooniverse.org

• Eyewire: a citizen science game that we... must... not... play right now - https://eyewire.org/explore

• FPAN Heritage Monitoring Scouts: help document and monitor Florida sites - https://www.fpan.us/training-courses/hms-florida/

• Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/

Coming up next: We're starting Where the Moon Stands Still: Revealing the Cosmic Genius of Ohio's Indigenous Earthworks by James W. Graham - an advance copy the author sent us ahead of its release.

We'll cover the first six chapters, and it keeps our accidental space streak alive: it's all about how the Hopewell earthworks align with the cycles of the moon. New episode drops on the 15th.

#ArchaeologyBooksforFun #ArchaeologyfromSpace #NazcaLines

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Will robots and drones replace archaeologists? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak and her vision of the field's high-tech future, from "dig bots" and machine learning to thermal imaging and portable chemical scanners.

They also follow her satellite hunt for a lost Egyptian capital, where space-shuttle elevation data revealed a forgotten channel of the Nile before rampant looting shut the dig down.

A must-listen for anyone curious about the future of archaeology, remote-sensing technology, and ancient Egypt.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

‣ The future of archaeology (chapter 9): camera drones and "dig bots," machine learning, thermal infrared imaging, and portable X-ray fluorescence, kicked off with a sci-fi story that ends with an archaeologist applying to dig in outer space.

‣ The satellite find (chapter 8): using space-shuttle elevation data to reveal a lost, unrecorded channel of the Nile while searching for an Egyptian Middle Kingdom capital, and how deep core sampling revealed a site 5 meters (16 feet) under the surface.

‣ A what-archaeologists-actually-think moments: why perfect 3D-printed replicas won't end looting, why "instant" robotic DNA analysis would complicate descendant and tribal consultation, and the overlooked Quftis, Egypt's expert excavators long labeled "foremen" rather than archaeologists.

‣ Florida connection: Florida fieldwork as a yardstick, meter-deep shovel testing versus Egypt's deep alluvial sediment, and teams from the recent the First Lego League robotics challenge trying to protect us from the heat, a real threat for archaeologists.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

"Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past" by Dr. Sarah Parcak. Parcak is a pioneer of satellite archaeology who wrote the first textbook on the subject, a National Geographic Explorer, and a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the 2016 TED Prize winner and founder of GlobalXplorer°, a citizen-science platform that invites anyone to help spot potential archaeological sites in satellite imagery.

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Part 1 of our "Archaeology from Space" series: "Space Archaeology Found 18,000 Hidden Sites" - https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/VUoNwGddM4b

Part 1 of our "Four Lost Cities" series which elaborates on the ideas of chapter 8 in this episode: "Çatalhöyük" - https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/vAMp55sdM4b

Our recent interview with the "Continuing Studies Podcast": "Beyond the Interview: Using a Book Club Podcast to Bring Academic Expertise to the Public" - https://bit.ly/44wJs9D

The Vesuvius Challenge - the effort to read charred, rolled scrolls that Tristan references from recent news - https://bit.ly/4hdH6nu

Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/

#archaeologybooksforfun #ArchaeologyFromSpace #FutureOfArchaeology

What does an entire buried city look like from space? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak and the chapter where satellite imagery uncovers the buried Egyptian city of Tanis (the real city Indiana Jones races to find in Raiders of the Lost Ark) revealing its streets, suburbs, and houses from orbit. They get into how fancy techniques, moisture, and time of year expose buried mud-brick architecture, why the book's globe-trotting "Grand Tour" chapter struggles without a core idea to hold it together, and a closing chapter that sets the satellites aside for a historical-fiction portrait of one woman's life as drought and famine bring down Egypt's Old Kingdom.

A must-listen for anyone curious about satellite archaeology, remote sensing, and ancient Egypt.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

How satellite imagery mapped the entire buried city of Tanis in "Digging in the Wrong Place" (chapter 5), the chapter the hosts thought finally delivered the "space" the book promised.

The technique behind it: combining multispectral and high-resolution satellite imagery (down to 0.3 m) to detect buried mud-brick architecture, and how moisture, season, and time of day change what the satellites can actually see, plus why ground-truthing still matters.

A what-archaeologists-actually-think moment: Barbara and Tristan diagnose why the book struggles, it has a subject (satellite archaeology) but no core idea or organizing theme to guide it

Florida connection: a visiting underwater archaeologist at the University of West Florida (UWF) demonstrating how photogrammetry turns shipwreck photos into 3D models in hours, work that used to take weeks of hand-drawing

ABOUT THE BOOK:

"Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past" by Dr. Sarah Parcak.

Parcak is a pioneer of satellite archaeology who wrote the first textbook on the subject, a National Geographic Explorer, and a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the 2016 TED Prize winner and founder of GlobalXplorer, a community-science platform that invites anyone to help spot potential archaeological sites in satellite imagery.

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Part 1 of our Archaeology from Space series: "Space Archaeology Found 18,000 Hidden Sites" - https://youtu.be/-0QkJZfJBf4

Part 2: "Hunting Vikings with Satellites" - https://youtu.be/IF9nxTp4TVk

The real Tanis (San el-Hagar) and the treasures of Psusennes I - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanis

Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/

#archaeologybooksforfun #ArchaeologyFromSpace #AncientEgypt

Can satellites really find lost Viking settlements? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak, following her satellite search for Norse sites along the coast of North America and Newfoundland. They unpack how buried turf longhouses reveal themselves from orbit through subtle changes in vegetation, why North American archaeology is worlds apart from Egyptology, and how a dig that "fails" can still be a scientific win.

A must-listen for anyone curious about space archaeology, satellite remote sensing, and the Norse exploration of the Americas.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

- Hunting lost Norse (Viking) settlements in Newfoundland and along the North American coast with satellite imagery and remote sensing, and why real archaeology is about everyday life, not gold or "lost cities"

- How buried turf longhouses and their outbuildings appear from space as faint vegetation and soil marks, plus pareidolia: the trap of "seeing" structures that aren't there ("a needle in a haystack made of needles")

- A what-archaeologists-actually-think moment: why a dig with no blockbuster find still counts as science, testing the method and gathering negative data is real progress (with a clarification that the book was not suggesting Vikings were vegetarians)

- Regional connection: Barbara and Tristan weighing the book's claims about fieldwork hardship against the reality of North American and Florida field conditions

ABOUT THE BOOK:

"Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past" by Dr. Sarah Parcak. Parcak is a pioneer of satellite archaeology who wrote the first textbook on the subject, a National Geographic Explorer, and a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the 2016 TED Prize winner and founder of GlobalXplorer°, a citizen-science platform that invites anyone to help spot potential archaeological sites in satellite imagery.

RESOURCES & LINKS:

- Part 1 of our Archaeology from Space series: "Space Archaeology Found 18,000 Hidden Sites" - https://youtu.be/-0QkJZfJBf4

- L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (Parks Canada) - the first known Viking site in North America: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows

- Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/

#archaeologybooksforfun #ArchaeologyFromSpace #Vikings

In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan kick off their discussion of "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak, exploring how satellite imagery and remote sensing technology are transforming the way archaeologists find and study sites around the world. From Cold War spy satellites declassified in 1995 to a study estimating 18,000 unrecorded pre-Columbian sites in the Amazon basin, this episode is essential listening for anyone interested in spacearchaeology, remote sensing, and the future of archaeological discovery.

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WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE

- How satellite imagery is used to identify archaeological sites, and why it's only the first step before ground truthing

- The origins of space archaeology, from WWI aerial balloons to Cold War spy satellites to modern sub-meter resolution imagery

- What archaeologists actually think about the "space archaeology" label; and why Barbara's friend had a point about GPS

- How the technology connects to everyday CRM and regional archaeology work, including a Leon County GIS example

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ABOUT THE BOOK

"Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak introduces readers to the field of satellite remote sensing in archaeology. Parcak is an Egyptologist and NASA-funded researcher who has been credited with identifying thousands of potential archaeological sites from space and has spoken widely about the technology's potential to revolutionize the field.

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RESOURCES & LINKS:

- Leon County GIS mapping tool: https://www.leoncountyfl.gov/gis

- Support the show: https://www.fpan.us/give/

#SpaceArchaeology #RemoteSensing #ArchaeologyBooksForFun

This is the finale of Mary Anna Evans' archaeology-themed murder mystery "Relics", and the last stretch is pure chaos with answers, motives, and a whole lot of running for your life.

In this episode, Barbara and Tristan wrap up the story with the final reveals, the fallout from the forgery scheme, and the motives behind what’s been happening in (and around) the dig. Even with all of this, we still make time to talk about real-world archaeology along the way.

Next up, we’re starting a new book: "Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes the Past" by Sarah Parcak.

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Support the show!

https://www.fpan.us/give/

#archaeologybooksforfun #murdermystery #mysterynovel

This episode pulls back the curtain on an artifact forgery scheme in "Relics: A Faye Longchamp Mystery" by Mary Anna Evans; and suddenly a lot of earlier “weird stuff” starts to make sense.

Barbara and Tristan unpack another mysterious death, a forgery ring moving fake antiquities, and a little relationship drama. Was it murder? Who’s behind the fakes? And has Joe finally found love?

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Episode 1 of "Relics"

https://youtu.be/XzFBWgl7jvI

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Support the show!

https://www.fpan.us/give/

#archaeologybooksforfun #murdermystery #bookclub

Destroying an artifact will do it, especially on an archaeological dig.

In this episode, Barbara and Tristan continue "Relics" by Mary Anna Evans (Ch. 11–13), an archaeology-themed murder mystery. The mystery keeps building, the fieldwork drama escalates, and we break down the real-world archaeology and crew dynamics behind what’s happening on the page; all while puzzling our way through a story with genuinely fun characters.

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Support the show!

https://www.fpan.us/give/

#archaeologybooksforfun #murdermystery #bookclub

Was it a murder, or an accident? In part 2 (Ch. 6-10) of Mary Anna Evans' archaeology murder mystery "Relics" kicks off the mystery, while still giving Barbara and Tristan plenty of archaeology to dig into along the way.

After a near-disaster of a date and a deadly bunkhouse fire, Faye finds yet another disaster in the “excavation” work done so far.

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Support the show!

https://www.fpan.us/give/

"Relics" by Mary Anna Evans is an archaeology-themed murder mystery, and we’re reading Chapters 1-5.

What do “buffalo wallows” have to do with archaeology? Unfortunately… more than they should in this episode. We're kicking off the archaeology-themed murder mystery "Relics" by Mary Anna Evans (Ch. 1–5) and, even though nobody dies (yet), an archaeological site has still been murdered.

Archaeologists Barbara and Tristan talk about why no excavation should ever be described as a “buffalo wallow,” a few modern trends in community archaeology, and the realities of working under an archaeologist who shouldn’t be making decisions. The early mystery setup had us so hooked we briefly forgot we’re reading a murder mystery.

In part 2, we’ll continue the story and see what kind of “murder” shows up first.

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Catch up on the first book:

"Artifacts" Episode 1: https://youtu.be/TZro0WllkrU

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Support the show!

https://www.fpan.us/give/

#archaeologybooksforfun #murdermystery #archaeology #bookpodcast