Michael Harrower started working in the field in the 1990s, as the first recreational GPS systems became publicly accessible. Like the glow of a flickering bulb, images taken from above were shedding light on previously dark landscapes. By gathering data and images from satellites and aircraft, researchers began to uncover a wealth of new finds. They worked from historical accounts and biblical texts and a lot of educated guesswork.īut all of that changed in the late 20th century when some of them began using a new tool: remote sensing. Early Light from the Space Ageįor centuries, if archaeologists wanted to find an ancient or mythical site, they trudged through desert sands or rainforest thickets armed with little more than rumors and hand-drawn maps. But it was also the start of something bigger: the revolution of a scientific field.
It was an early step in an unlikely search for the long-lost trading post at Ubar, a mythic place that once teemed with wealth and lavish feasts. “The only guys who knew where we were were the helicopter pilot and co-pilot,” Blom recalled later. For navigation, they mostly relied on compasses and grainy satellite images civilian-grade GPS systems were still an inconsistent novelty. A handful of Omani soldiers came along for protection in the country’s tribal territories. Then there was Ron Blom, a geologist and remote sensing specialist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.īetween them, they had a large duffel containing some old military-supplied “meals-ready-to-eat,” archaeological sample bags, and a small pickaxe-the sort used to pry artifacts loose from clay. Their ringleader was documentary filmmaker Nicholas Clapp, accompanied by his wife Kay, a federal probation officer. There was George Hedges, an entertainment industry lawyer from Los Angeles Sir Ranulph Fiennes, a British baronet and explorer and Juris Zarins, an archaeologist. This was a reconnaissance mission, their first to the desert of Oman. The group was on a quest to find the ruins of an ancient, remote outpost-a destination that would have taken days to reach by camel. Their transport, a Vietnam War-era Huey helicopter, had returned to Thumrait Air Base to refuel, leaving them grounded until morning. They had not planned on stopping here for the night, so they had no radio, nor any mode of communication. The small group spread out their sleeping bags on a desert mesa, under the setting Sun. It was the summer of 1990 and broiling hot in southwest Oman.
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