Classic horror movies tell you tampering with ancient ruins leads to bad things. While interfering with ancient burial grounds won't really bring vengeful spirits back to life, archeologists are finding that with the help of modern industrial inspection and computer technology, they can open new windows to the ancient world without the carnage.

There are countless prehistoric tombs under modern building complexes and highways, remnants of centuries-old shipwrecks resting many fathoms below the surface, and ancient villages lost beneath layers of sediment that are hidden from human eyes. But these hidden gems — whether it's the lost tomb of Jesus and his family or a remnant from an olive jar that pre-dates Christianity — are now becoming available for inspection.

Miniaturized cameras and scopes can now take you into areas where conditions are unsafe for humans. Software can recreate structures and simulate weather conditions to study medieval village life. And robotic "note takers" can sweep the ocean floor for chemical anomalies.

"Technology is letting us do things and see objects we couldn't before," says Bill Tarant, a sales representative for GE Inspection Technologies in Mississauga, Ont. "What's so remarkable is that you can see every detail and still leave a site as pristine as when you found it."

"Technology is letting us do things and see objects we couldn't before."

— Bill Tarant, GE Inspection Technologies

Industrial, military technology put to more delicate uses

This type of technology isn't new to the industrial and military worlds. It has been used to inspect pipelines, diagnose aircraft engines, explore mine shafts and perform underwater surveillance. But it is only recently that archeologists have been able to start playing with it.

GE remote visual inspection technology, for example, was used in the discovery of the controversial "lost tomb of Jesus" in Jerusalem. Twenty-five years ago, when it was decided the site was unsafe to excavate, a 15-centimetre pipe was inserted to serve as an airshaft. That pipe became the conduit for the miniaturized high- tech video camera that was used to deliver the first broadcast-quality images of the tomb' s contents.

Video probes a mere 0.6 cm in diameter typically applied to scoping the insides of aircraft engines were also used to snake through the debris and rubble in the pipe to get a sneak peek.

Deduction without destruction

The ability to view, catalogue and inspect sites without handling the goods is a huge plus in decoding the secrets of the past, because it allows people to see everything in context, experts say.

"Archeology is a destructive science," says Vitomir Jevremovic, executive director at the Center for Digital Archaeology at the University of Belgrade in Serbia.

The centre is the developer of advanced digital archeology tools that enable 3D rendering and simulations by integrating information from a variety of non-invasive scanning, sonar, radar and mapping sources.

"By building detailed 3D reconstructed models, archeologists are now able to study and interpret them in greater detail," explains Jevremovic. "Our ability to build virtual reconstructions has changed the way we look at the sites. Often we realize that what we thought was the story was wrong or misunderstood."

"Our ability to build virtual reconstructions has changed the way we look at the sites. Often we realize that what we thought was the story was wrong or misunderstood."

— Vitomir Jevremovic, University of Belgrade

For Dr. Brendan Foley, research associate of archeology at the Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole in Massachusetts, nothing could be more hands off than archeological sites on the ocean floor. As the only archeologist on staff at the institution, Foley has access to some of the most advanced remote underwater vehicle technologies around to explore the Mediterranean Sea's deeper waters for ancient artifacts.

"I get to take all the great sensors and vehicles all the engineers have built over the years and apply it to archeology," he said.

The problem faced by ocean archeologists is that the majority of shipwrecks are out of reach for human divers, who can only excavate in shallower waters.

"Clearly there are plenty of shipwrecks in deeper water," Foley said. "But the only way to see them is with technology."

Since 2005 he has been using a robotic autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the Aegean Sea to gather images and data on remnants from a shipwreck dating back to 350 B.C. The unit, which has two large metal tubes on metal struts, is programmed to sweep a preprogrammed area in a "lawnmower" fashion and take pictures, run sonar readings and collect data using chemical and environmental sensors to catalogue inorganic debris such as sculptures, transport jars and cooking utensils.

Foley said he is working with engineers to pioneer newer advancements into the AUVs so he can go further back in time. "I want to find wrecks that date back to the dawn of civilization 5,000 years ago."

To do that, he said, will take new style, fast- running AUVs that can cover large distances and have extra sensors including next generation spectrometers to detect subtle chemical differences in sediment.

"It will need new kinds of embedded intelligence so it can make decisions about what it is seeing. An integrated vehicle that can navigate, has embedded intelligence and comes with all kinds of sensors – that's how we'll crack the nut on how civilization started."

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