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Lasers Unearth Lost 'Agropolis' of New England
sciencehabit writes "Hidden ruins are customary in the wild jungles of South America or on the white shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Now, researchers have uncovered a long-lost culture closer to Western civilization — in New England. Using aerial surveys created by LiDAR, a laser-guided mapping technique, the team detected the barely perceptible remnants of a former 'agropolis' around three rural New England towns (abstract). Near Ashford, Connecticut, a vast network of roads offset by stone walls came to light underneath a canopy of oak and spruce trees. More than half of the town has become reforested since 1870, according to historical documents, exemplifying the extent of the rural flight that marked the late 1800s. Some structures were less than 2 feet high and buried in inaccessible portions of the forest, making them essentially invisible to on-the-ground cartography."
This makes it sound like a long-lost native civilization was discovered. Not the case. Early European settlers in New England devastated the native landscape and, basically, turned it into English sheep farms. As expansion pushed westward and agriculture shifted with it, that economy changed and native (and some invasive) species have reclaimed the landscape.
Still very cool and interesting, but a different story from what you might expect from reading the lede.
Well I don't know about THAT. But there for Aliens... So sounds legit to me!
In a century or two, someone will look back at the U.S. and unearth the evidence that it once had vast manufacturing capability.
...it has come to this.
West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut. There are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight. On the gentle slopes there are farms, ancient and rocky, with squat, moss-coated cottages brooding eternally over old New England secrets in the lee of great ledges; but these are all vacant now, the wide chimneys crumbling and the shingled sides bulging perilously beneath low gambrel roofs.
Many years from now, digital archaeologists will use similar technology to find the remnants of pre-beta Slashdot.
They'll be stunned at what they find. They'll find a site that's actually readable, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site where discussion can easily take place, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site that loads quickly, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site that isn't riddled with large, useless images, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site that isn't rife with unnecessary whitespace, unlike the Slashdot Beta site.
Academic papers will be written based on this discovery. Entire academic careers will be built upon these papers!
Scientists will ask, "How in the fuck did they screw up the Slashdot Beta web site so damn badly? How in the fuck did they ever allow it to go live? Why the fuck didn't they kill that piece-of-shit project immediately?"
The use of LIDAR and other sensing techniques is having a powerful impact on archaeology around the world. New finds keep turning up, and there is still a lot of the earth to explore with those sensing technologies. Couple that with the ongoing efforts to digitize old records and the growing use of geospatial information systems and there are some interesting times ahead.
Great article: The technology uncovering humanity's past, and perhaps its future
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
How is New England closer to Western civilization than the 'white shores of the Mediterranean Sea'? Western civilization was born in the shores of the mediterranean sea.
My other signature is a car
so we can finally get some sleep? finally advanced discourse? the celebrations have just begun; http://rt.com/in-motion/hamburg-pillow-fight-police-456/
I am always amazed at how versatile and useful LASERs are. Bacon is the only thing that rivals LASERs.
One day, someone will figure out how to incorporate a use of bacon with LASERs and cure all of man's ills: Global Warming, Cancer, ...you name it.
Now, researchers have uncovered a long-lost culture closer to Western civilization — in New England.
"Long lost civilization" here means 1700s New England farms, it's not a discovery that Native Americans were building saw mills or anything.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
That's the same reaction I had. As someone who grew up in Connecticut, and not even that far from Ashford, this is incredibly common. The woods are criscrossed with old stone walls and the occasional stone foundation.
"Long lost civilization" and "New England" have a whole different meaning once you've read Lovecraft :)
This story isn't hardly surprising. After I got past the fact that the outline made it read like they found some long long civilization, and in fact it was just forgotten farm roads from 200 years ago, it's really not that impressive. I also live in Connecticut, less than 45 minutes from this location.. and this is true for most of Connecticut, at least the parts that still have woods left mainly in the Eastern part of the state as well as North West part of the state (where I am). The exact same trails can be found in my own back yard. My backyard consists of a area close to 250 acres or so of wooded area. The entire wooded area is no more than ~150 years old. You can tell by looking at the trees, they're all to young to have been there for more than 100 years. There's all sorts of areas littered with old barbed wire, to which trees have grown around, and old stone walls that have almost fallen apart and are more like a clumping of rocks all lined up than a stone wall. There are also area's where you can clearly tell there used to be trails, in fact we use one to walk between relatives on the other side of our hill and my own house, and a few of the more aged trails as ATV trails. In fact there was even a man made stream, that was diverted from its natural course (to which is has now gone back to) that once flowed a few dozen feet from my house, to which my driveway now follows. Such is not uncommon for all of Connecticut and New England. If you look, you'll find former farm trails and relics everywhere.
Wha? A Bronze Age Civilization under our interstate highways? Archeological digs that may soon produce tablets that rival Linear A?
Uh, no... Just some nineteenth century farms with stone fences (like those in present day Westchester County NY) that were abandoned by their owners after lucrative mill towns sprung up across New England. Sigh.
clean slate for the queen, nice empty prisons & mental hospitals & a terror based force fo the native 'management'/'conversion' process. are we re-runs forever?
I grew up in northeastern Massachusetts. There were stone walls running all over the place out in the woods behind our house. Everyone knew they were from farms from the 1800s.
You mean they found some old farms. Neat.
And as a boy, I'd constantly stumbled on structures like this. What this study does show is how extensive it was and how it connected - I never appreciated that because all I ever saw was a lone stone wall or something in the middle of the woods and didn't know it was part of this huge network.
Early European settlers in New England devastated the native landscape
Eek!
and, basically, turned it into English sheep farms.
Oh, you mean they wanted homes and livelihoods just like us. That doesn't sound quite so sinister.
The summary makes it sound like they found 3000 year old ruins, not 300 year old ruins. This is not a lost civilization. It's just early Americans, colonial and USA. It's still interesting. There was no need to sensationalize. It reminds me of the innocent looking ditches I used to pass by in Fairfax County, VA local parks. It wasn't until after moving away that I saw an article online explaining that the ditches were colonial stream diversions leading to mills that no longer exist. A preserved example of such a mill still exists at Colvin Run in Fairfax County, AFIAK.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Closer here means culturally and structurally more like the Western civilizations than the pre-Columbus cultures, not physically closer.
The Mediterranean and jungles of South America refer to the expected locations of lost civilization ruins rather than in New England area.
Trying to become famous by taking photos. Visit my homepage please.
Southern New England is overrun with old stone walls and relics of old farms, take a walk in the woods some time. Also, water is wet.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
But, but they devastated the native landscape.
That makes them evil.
And since we're their descendents (at least the New England readers of /.), we owe retribution to Mother Gaia forever and ever and ever.
OTOH, Mother Gaia has covered the remnants of their "devastation" so thoroughly that they need LiDAR to detect them.
So maybe it wasn't so "devastating" after all.
Property owners can use these maps to determine whether any such structures exist on their property. They will then bulldoze them flat so as to prevent some preservationist societies from declaring their property off limits to development.
Have gnu, will travel.
Attention Rest Of World, we in the US consider stuff from the 1800s not only old, but akin to ancient ruins.
Vizitez u our museums with art from the Olde Masters like Norman Rockwell and Robert Crumb.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Scientists will ask, "How in the fuck did they screw up the Slashdot Beta web site so damn badly? How in the fuck did they ever allow it to go live? Why the fuck didn't they kill that piece-of-shit project immediately?"
Another website lost to the whorish desire to jump on the smartphone/tablet bandwagon. I predict a rebound for desktop computing in a few years when people start to realize that it was way easier to get real work done on one.
"To an American a hundred years is a long time, and to a Briton a hundred miles is a long distance."
-- attribution unknown
farms ... that were abandoned by their owners after lucrative mill towns sprung up across New England
Actually the main reason that so many New England farms were abandoned is that farmers were moving to the Midwest, where the farmland was much better. I love New England, but the poor rocky soil makes it a lousy place to farm.
U.S.A.! Where the demons dwell Where the banshees live and they do live well U.S.A.! Where a man's a man And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan!
Apple's lawyers are rubbing their hands and doing that looking from side to side thing like if you're watching tennis while wearing a neck-brace.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
New Jersey is not in New England
You're nearly 2 centuries behind, dude. Joseph Smith discovered ancient golden plates back in 1823, in nearby new york state.
I doubt it. Most people on the computer are not on the computer or tablet or whatever to get work done. They are on it for entertainment and occasional menial tasks. For many, writing their resume on the computer is the most work they will actually do.
.. Or Mr Angelo (Michael to his close friends).
That's on a museum in Chicago, IIRC.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
And to a Frenchman, a hundred minutes is a lunch hour.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
It is semi-odd that later waves of immigrants didn't take it over, at least until they could save up enough to move on, or it dawned on them that the land was crap and they sold it to the next bunch of suckers that got off the boat.
Because if one thing built the USA, it was suckers getting off boats and being looked down on by those who had (just) got their socks dry.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Is that where he painted the sevsenteen chapel?
rewriting history since 2109
... and to a German, a hundred miles per hour is a traffic jam.
A World in a Grain of Sand / Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Infinity in the Palm of your Hand / And Eternity in an Hour.
Really? But Jersey is in England, so it should be!
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Jersey is a channel island off the northwest coast of France. It's part of the Duchy of Normandy and ruled by the Duke of Normandy, who happens to be the Monarch of the United Kingdom. It is an independent political entity, and not part of the United Kingdom, much less England.
But is it in danger of being crushed by a dwarf?
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
I'm in the UK and live in a 400+ year old house so anything post 1800 feels pretty new fangled to me.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
Was taken to a historical town in the US - couldn't help but snicker half the time...
Was in Maryland and saw 'Ye Olde Church' - likely from about 1850 and from the signs they were proud of it. Probably the oldest building for miles. Fair enough. Nice enough building from the outside - standard sized rural church. However, they had recently re-clad it in UPVC. Understand that painted wooden cladding is a PITA for maintenance. However, with the UPVC cladding it looked about as un-historic as you could get.
I grew up in a city in the netherlands where city hall was built in 1250 and most of the houses are from the early middleages.
As a poster in the original article comments states:
"This article restates the obvious. Its like looking at your bedroom in the dark with a flashlight and getting all excited by what is visible. I grew up 17 miles south of the area in the picture. The woods are full of old stone walls which are plain as day if you walk around. I'm sure that most of the walls track real estate records.Using radar makes it easier to map the walls, a bit easier than Google Earth perhaps. Everyone knows this and everyone knows that the old farmsteads are gone."