Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Machu Picchu is a famous old city in the mountains of Peru. It was built long ago by the Inca people.
Scientists used a special laser tool to look under the thick forest plants near Machu Picchu.
They found more than 2.5 kilometers of old roads that no one knew about before.
They also think they found old farm areas hidden in the forest.
- ancient
- belonging to a time very long ago
- mountain
- a very high area of land, higher than a hill
- laser
- a strong, narrow beam of light used in tools and science
- forest
- a large area covered mostly by trees
- road
- a path made for people or vehicles to travel on
- hidden
- not able to be seen; kept out of sight
- farm
- land used for growing crops or raising animals
- discover
- to find something for the first time
Level 2 — Elementary
Archaeologists have discovered more than 2.5 kilometers of ancient roads hidden beneath the thick plants of the cloud forest surrounding Machu Picchu, the famous Inca citadel high in the mountains of Peru.
The researchers used a technology called LiDAR, which sends out laser light from the air to map the ground even when it is completely covered by trees and plants.
Along with the roads, the scans revealed what may be old agricultural terraces and platforms, structures the Inca likely used for farming and building on the steep mountainside.
Peru's Ministry of Culture announced the discovery, which came from survey work carried out in July by researchers from the University of Warsaw and Cusco's regional cultural authorities.
- citadel
- a fortress or strong structure that protects a city or settlement
- cloud forest
- a forest found high in mountains that is often covered in low clouds
- LiDAR
- a technology that uses laser light to measure distances and create maps
- terrace
- a flat, raised area of land, often built on a slope for farming
- platform
- a flat, raised structure used as a base for building or standing
- steep
- rising or falling sharply, almost straight up or down
- authority
- an official organization with power to manage or decide something
- survey
- a careful examination or study of an area
Level 3 — Intermediate
Archaeologists have identified more than 2.5 kilometers of previously undocumented pre-Hispanic roads concealed beneath the dense vegetation of the Andean cloud forest surrounding Machu Picchu, the fifteenth century Inca citadel that draws millions of visitors each year.
The discovery relied on LiDAR, a remote sensing technology that fires laser pulses from an aircraft or drone toward the ground, allowing researchers to strip away the forest canopy digitally and reveal man made features that have remained invisible to conventional survey methods for centuries.
Among the most notable findings is a road stretching at least three quarters of a mile, featuring a distinctive zigzagging route characteristic of Inca engineering, along with what researchers believe may be additional agricultural terraces and platforms near the Mandor Wall that will now require closer, on the ground investigation.
The survey, announced by Peru's Ministry of Culture, resulted from an inter-institutional collaboration between the University of Warsaw's Center for Andean Studies and Cusco's Decentralized Directorate of Culture, following preliminary fieldwork conducted in July.
- concealed
- hidden from view or knowledge
- vegetation
- plant life covering a particular area
- remote sensing
- gathering information about an area from a distance, often using aircraft or satellites
- canopy
- the upper layer of branches and leaves in a forest
- conventional
- based on what is generally done or believed; traditional
- distinctive
- having a quality that makes something clearly recognizable
- engineering
- the practice of designing and building structures or systems
- inter-institutional
- involving cooperation between two or more organizations
Level 4 — Advanced
Archaeologists have identified more than 2.5 kilometers of previously undocumented pre-Hispanic roadways concealed within the dense vegetation of the Andean cloud forest encircling Machu Picchu, the fifteenth century Inca citadel whose visible ruins have long overshadowed the extent of infrastructure believed to lie beneath the surrounding canopy.
The findings emerged from an aerial LiDAR survey, a remote sensing method that discharges laser pulses toward the terrain and computationally filters out vegetative cover, thereby exposing anthropogenic features that had eluded ground based archaeological methods for generations despite the site's status as one of the most intensively studied in the Americas.
Among the most significant features is a roadway extending at least three quarters of a mile and exhibiting a zigzagging configuration emblematic of Inca engineering practice, alongside probable agricultural terracing and platform structures near the Mandor Wall that researchers now regard as priorities for subsequent ground truthing and excavation.
The survey, announced by Peru's Ministry of Culture, arose from an inter-institutional partnership between the University of Warsaw's Center for Andean Studies and Cusco's Decentralized Directorate of Culture, building on preliminary fieldwork conducted in July and underscoring how remote sensing continues to reshape understanding of a landscape long presumed to have already yielded its major secrets.
- roadway
- a road, especially considered as part of a larger network
- infrastructure
- the basic physical systems and structures needed for a society to function
- computationally
- by means of calculation or data processing, typically using computers
- anthropogenic
- originating from human activity
- eluded
- escaped detection or understanding
- emblematic
- serving as a symbol or representative example of something
- ground truthing
- verifying remote data through direct, on site observation
- presumed
- assumed to be true without direct proof
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