“The Future of Archaeology: Space-based Approaches” Sarah Parcak ’01

“The future of archaeology: Space-based approaches” talk Sarah Parcak ’01, part of #unite4heritage at Yale Sarah Parcak, a 2001 graduate of Yale College, returned to Yale to discuss “The Future of Archaeology: Space-based Approaches to Ancient Landscapes” on Wednesday, April 6, in a talk sponsored by by the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Timothy Dwight College, the first in a series of public events on the preservation of cultural heritage held in conjunction with the eighth U.N. Global Colloquium of University Presidents. Parcak is associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and founding director of the UAB Laboratory for Global Observation. The winner of the 2016 TED Prize, she uses satellite imagery combined with ground-based excavation and survey to uncover new tombs, settlements, forts, and potential pyramids in various world regions. Her research represents the first large-scale landscape archaeology approaches to the field of Egyptology. “I wish for us to discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe,” Parcak has said in outlining her plans for using the $1 million TED Prize. “By building an online citizen science platform and training a 21st-century army of global explorers, we'll find and protect the world's hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind's collective resilience and creativity.” Viewers are encouraged to join the conversation on social media about the preservation of cultural heritage by using the hashtag #unite4heritage and to read YaleNews for more stories.