Science & Nature · 2

What aerial scanning technology, which fires millions of laser pulses from aircraft, revealed a vast hidden ancient city beneath the jungle canopy near Angkor Wat in 2015?

Answer

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) was used by the Cambodian Archaeological Lidar Initiative in 2015–2016 to scan the jungle around Angkor Wat, revealing the outlines of the medieval city of Mahendraparvata — a vast urban network completely hidden by dense forest for centuries.

💡 Did you know?

When archaeologists processed the first Angkor LiDAR scans, they discovered a medieval city larger than modern-day Paris had been hiding for centuries under the jungle.

Other options people guess

  • Ground-penetrating radar
  • Satellite infrared imaging
  • Aerial photogrammetry

Topics

  • archaeology
  • lidar
  • ancient-history
  • mysteries
  • civilisations

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