Space Archaeology

Chloe Trotter

Dig through the soil to dig through time itself,
but for now I put my shovel on its shelf.
At first I was aghast!
Using the future to explore the past?
But now I understand the might,
of using our spaces’ satellites.
A look from space gives a birds eye view,
one more click could lead to a clue!
Maybe a home or perhaps a tomb,
I hold my breath and dare not to presume…
A desk chair, my new transport through history,
far faster than camels at unravelling mystery.
As I sit down for the day I can’t help but smirk,
look at the progress in my area of work.

The Science

Recently satellites are being used to not only look out at space, but also to look back at Earth. One of the uses of this data is to look for archaeological sites which can then be explored physically. This enables an altogether, quicker, cheaper process as searching hard environments like the desert can be difficult and costly. This poem is written from the view of an archaeologist excited to try out this new technology. A quick online search will allow anyone to take a look at these images and help out with the citizen science project. The project mentioned in the poem can be found at: www.globalxplorer.org.

The Poet

Chloe Trotter is an English scientist and writer who lives in the North of the UK. As well as poetry Chloe loves to write stories and is a strong believer in using as many methods to communicate science as possible. Currently her work can be read at BotanyOne and ABCs_of_science.

Next poem: Stone Axe Factory, Great Langdale by Vivien Ring