1,000 prehistoric 'ghosts' suddenly appear in laser scans

LIDAR's modern laser scanning technology has enabled Scottish scientists to discover more than 1,000 previously unseen relics on the beautiful island of Arran.

Arran, an island known as the "geological paradise" with its complex terrain and geological history, attracts many scientists, perhaps also the paradise of archeology, through new findings from the agency. Scottish Environmental History (HES).

A medieval round house exposed by the stream - (photo: HES)

To better understand the island of fog, they decided to use LIDAR, the technology of laser scanning and 3D images of the surface to be scanned. This technology has helped scientists around the world have made surprising and prominent findings, including the great Mayan city with more than 60,000 impressive prehistoric structures under the canopy of Guatemala forest, announced in early 2018. .

The circular spots along the stream are the "ghosts" of prehistoric huts - (photo: HES).

This time, LIDAR showed that on this rather sparsely populated island Scotland still hid about 1,000 structures, including many prehistoric houses, villages, farms . All are completely new and new, have not been recorded any archaeological records.

Arran is a beautiful, sparsely populated island of Scotland, dubbed the "geological paradise" - (photo: SPUTNIK).

According to Shona Nicol, head of HES's Department of Scientific Information and Geographical Analysis, the increasing amount of remote sensing data they collect could help put Scotland at the forefront of the field.