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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, November 16, 2009 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Aerial photo of Maya pyramids

Tom Sever

"Space Archeology: Past and Present Human Effects upon Climate Variability"

ABSTRACT -- Recognition of the past as a rich source of information to help understand today’s environmental crisis is revolutionizing archeology. The archeological record contains hundreds of societies that successfully adapted to their environment, yet over time, developed practices that degraded their surroundings and undermined their continued existence. Scientists can now link the rise and fall of many societies recorded in the archeological record with the evidence of the timing and magnitude of climate change stored in ice cores, corals and sediments. The environmental crisis is not a new problem, but is a basic human-environmental relationship that has been with us for millennia. The Petén region of northern Guatemala contains some of the most significant Mayan archeological sites in Latin America. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. We are investigating settlement survey in the Maya Lowlands by using remotely sensed data and have discovered that there is a correlation between tropical forest vegetation and archeological sites. Through this research we are achieving a better understanding of the natural and human-induced effects of climate variability.

SPEAKER -- Dr. Tom Sever has over 30 years experience in environmental/archeological research at NASA and the University of Alabama-Huntsville. He has been a pioneer in bringing remote sensing/GIS technology to the disciplines of anthropology and archeology and conducting climate variability research. He has worked with various airborne and satellite systems conducting international research in Israel, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the U.S. In addition to the professional literature his work has been featured in National Geographic, Archaeology Magazine, Omni Magazine, Discovery, Newsweek, New York Times, Smithsonian Air and Space, as well as NOVA and the Discovery Channel.


Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov