- [Narrator] Archaeologists
have always utilized the latest technologies
to aid in their research. One such revolutionary
tool is Google Earth, which gives budding Indiana-Jones-types a birds-eye view of the world. And because it's open-source, it's helped armchair archeologists solve mysteries of ancient history and created a few as well. One such mystery was this
strange rock formation found in the sea, which had been ignored
by scientists for ages. That is, until some archaeologists
hopped onto Google Earth and managed to discover its true nature. Let's find out what that
rock formation is now! (light sound effects) - A bad thing! Discovered off the coast of Wales, this rock formation was first
spotted by a passing plane, and then revealed by Google Earth in 2006. It sits in the Teifi Estuary near Cardiff and following its discovery, divers were sent down to
examine the structure. They found out that the
structure is one meter wide and protrudes about 30
centimeters out of the sand. Being an almost perfect V shape, it was thought to unlikely have been a naturally-occurring reef. In fact, it's believed to be made out of locally quarried rock and possibly dates back
more than a 1,000 years. But researchers didn't
just wade into the river to find the answer. Instead, they put their brains together and analyzed these
photos from Google Earth. Do you think you know what it is yet? It didn't take them long but the archaeologists managed to discover that it was in fact a fish trap and not just any old fish trap, but at 260 meters long, the largest one found from
that particular time period. Though it may not look like it, this fish trap was a sophisticated piece of ancient engineering. Fish would swim up the
estuary with the tide and on their way back out would find themselves
funneled into the wedge, unable to leave with the outgoing tide. At its point is a gap, where fisherman would have
placed nets to catch fish as the water drained away. They could also have blocked up the gap and then scooped up fish
trapped in the shallows. Scientists believe large numbers
of people hunted together using the trap which allowed them to catch
plentiful numbers of fish for their supper. In fact, they were so effective that use of them anywhere
other than coastal regions was banned in the Magna Carta in 1215 to avoid complete
depletion of fish stocks. But this isn't the only place where these traps have been found. Take a look at these, off the
coast of Trevignano, in Italy. These more sophisticated arrowhead traps have been organized in groups to allow for maximum efficiency. But I've only just scratched the surface on some of the architectural mysteries unearthed by Google Earth. In fact, there have been
artifacts all over the world on the land and in the sea, that have been identified thanks to online archeology sleuths. Artifacts like these
mysterious rock structures. Visiting the deserts of the
Middle East is difficult. Let's just say it isn't your
typical holiday destination. For archaeologists, that means
a lot of valuable research is being lost to the pages of history. But thanks to tools like Google Earth, archaeologists have been able to identify mysterious structures in
places previously unreachable. In the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, researchers used to have to rely on looking at the photos World
War I pilots took of them when they flew over. Further investigation with Google Earth has revealed many more of
these strange rock formations arranged in a number of different shapes. But were they used for
some sort of ritual? Despite the huge number found, there was previously
no conclusive evidence to suggest their purpose,
or who built them. That is until the discovery
of one example in Tell Kuran, in South-Eastern Syria. Here archaeologists found
the lower foot bones of over 100 gazelles,
indicating a mass butchery. These formations, known as kites, turned out to be hunting grounds much like the fish traps, huge numbers of animals would
be driven into a bottleneck to be slaughtered. One thing's for sure, the discovery of a majority of these kites and several other stone structures would have been impossible
without Google Earth. Speaking about the projects, Lead Archaeologist David Kennedy of the University of Sydney said "We would have loved to fly
across into Saudi Arabia "to take images but you
never get the permission "and then along comes Google Earth." What's so great about Google Earth is the fact it isn't just a tool for the doctorate-holding
archaeologists among us. Remember what I said about
armchair archaeologists? Well they perhaps don't
come more impressive than 15-year-old William Gadoury. William's story of discovery comes straight out of an unused
National Treasure script, just without Nicolas Cage. Take a look at this patch of jungle in the state of Campeche, southern Mexico. It may not look like much at first glance but this was sitting right
under the noses of archeologists for years before it was spotted. Look closer and you'll see
that the faint impression of a geometric shape is unlike
anything else around it. It was a sight like this
that convinced young William that it was anything but natural. To make his discovery, William had to combine stargazing
with ancient Mayan texts and of course, Google Earth. Realizing that the Mayans
were just as obsessed with the constellations as he was, he worked out that their
cities had been constructed in alignment with the
brightest stars in the sky. By projecting a star map
onto a Google Earth image, he could estimate exactly
where there might be something to be discovered. Amazingly, it worked. Even more amazingly, no one
else had ever thought to do it. But what did he find? Well, it's supposedly a lost Mayan city known as K'aak Chi or the Fire City, one of the last of its
kind to be discovered. It's one city of three that
correspond in their location to the so-called 23rd constellation, of which the other two were already known. But despite this amazing find, there has been some doubt cast on it by other Mayanists who have
dismissed it quite harshly as "junk science" and "an
act of creative imagination". But if you thought that
was a fascinating story, then get a load of this. These images, analyzed by self-proclaimed
'Space Archaeologist' Dr. Sarah Parcak may not look like much. But her discovery, aided
by satellite imagery won her the 2016 TED prize and a $1,000,000 dollars of funding along with it. But what is this series of grid lines? It actually forms part of bigger mystery lost long ago to legend. So famous that it was used in a great part of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dr Parcak used images
provided by satellites to uncover more than a 1,000
tombs and 3,000 settlements buried underneath modern-day Egypt, the ancient city of Tanis. To do this, she used infra-red imagery to differentiate between densities of mud under the surface of the Earth. She deduced the existence
of ancient bricks and other construction materials, revealing a full city map
complete with street plans which are those lines. Previously, Tanis had only
been partially studied during 19th century excavations but the full extent of
the city was unknown with only a survey conducted
by Napoleon during his invasion forming the basis of our knowledge. Since discovering the settlements
through satellite imagery, archaeologists excavated parts of the land and found a five meters down under a thick layer of mud, a dense layer of pottery
proving the existence of 700 years of settlements at the area. However, not all mysterious
discoveries from Google Earth have their origins rooted
in ancient history. Take a look at these images, for example. Made almost entirely of straight lines ranging from a few miles across to the size of a small country, these strange underwater structures were sighted a few thousand meters under the surface of the ocean. They seemed too geometric
to be naturally-occurring, leading enthusiasts to theorize that it was something fantastical, the famed lost city of Atlantis. Ever since Plato first mentioned it in his work Timeaus and Critias, many have been convinced
that the drowned city exists somewhere under the waves. So, it was little surprise
that these patterns, seen first off of the coast of Mexico and later in the oceans around Africa, would capture their imaginations. But could it be the ruins
described in ancient literature? And if so, what stopped archaeologists
and explorers everywhere from strapping on their
diving suits and sailing out into the great blue beyond? Well, it turns out the
truth is unfortunately nowhere near as spectacular. Those lines turned out
to be image artifacts created by boats collecting
sonar mapping data. You see, Oceanographers use sonar. sound waves to map the ocean bottom. These sonar readings are
typically taken by ships towing submersible devices
that send out sound waves. The sound travels through the ocean, bounces off the seafloor, then travels back to the ships. This process creates a sound image of the peaks and valleys
on the ocean bottom. However, when these readings
are stitched together, some layers get piled together, creating remnants like these. Still, that's not the only
mystery found in the sea thanks to Google Earth. Check out this image
showing what looks like a huge, bizarrely shaped sea creature in the middle of the ocean. Lots of people have been
quick to cite this image as evidence of the Kraken since it does seem to have a strange tail, similar in appearance to a squid. Scarily, if that's true, this sea monster appears
to be a 120 meters from head to end with the
mid area of a giant squid being about 60 plus meters wide. Yet, there is a very
good explanation for it. The massive object isn't a kraken though. It actually appears to be a rock in the middle of the sea called sail rock. Obviously, the perspective we have when looking at our
planet from the top down can be deceiving some times. Even so, I hope you also
found these mysteries as interesting as I did. Were you able to decipher them
before I revealed the answer? And which one surprised you the most? Let me know in the comments down below and thanks for watching. (light music)
