Teotihuacan , an ancient , abandoned metropolis about an hour north of Mexico City , was once one of the with child cities in the world . It collapse century ago ( thanks either to an inner rebellion or foreign invader , depending on who you ask ) , but it ’s never been whole deserted , since the ruin have always been a attraction for squatters , archeologist , and horde of tourists .
Yet there are still portions of Teotihuacan that stay uninfluenced by today ’s explorer , including a subterranean sepulture site that scientists estimate has spent the last 1900 years unobserved by human optic . Until now .
In 2003 , scientistsdiscovereda tunnel beneath Teotihuacan ’s Temple of the Plumed Serpent . They speculate that the tunnel was a processional walk leading to a warren of purple burying chambers , but could n’t say for sure , since the opening to the tunnel was designedly swallow up by the city ’s last inhabitant . According toBLDGBLOG , archaeologist at Mexico ’s National Anthropology and History Institute are now uncovering the mystery of the buried chambers without stir up them — thanks to a diminutive automatonlike system designed to go where shimmying archaeologist can not :
… A footling wireless robot call Tlaloc II - TC will soon “ investigate the far reaches of a tunnel found beneath the Temple of the Plumed Serpent at Teotihuacan , ” enter a chamber “ estimated to be 2,000 years quondam , and [ that ] may have been used as a place for imperial ceremonies or burials . ”
The first Tlaloc enters the burrow . Photo by Alma Rodríguez for El Universal .
Tlaloque is actually a deployable collection of three unlike robotic organisation . The largest , a Mars Rover - esque contraption , is in care of ship two little mechanisms through the rubble - meet tunnel . When it reaches the chambers , a 2nd vehicle is programmed to take out itself to take infrared scans of the blank . Finally , a small , fly appliance will eventually be deployed to capture video footage . BLDGBLOG explains :
It gets even more interesting when we then read that there is yet another , “ third part ” of the corps de ballet , a “ robot made with four propellor ” that can “ stay suspend in the atmosphere and take pictures with television cameras . ”
It ’s a dawdler , in other give-and-take — part of a whole family of proliferate machines — but , for now , it will only be “ used out of doors due to electric current of air in the tunnel . ”
Tlaloc II - TC , the modish looping of the system of rules . Image by Melitón Tapia / INAH .
The team at the INAH have tested several iteration of Tlaloque , so there are a few preliminary reputation of what ’s in reality inside the chamber — and it sounds astonishingly nervous and coolheaded . “ investigating [ have avow ] that the burrow was constructed before the Feathered Serpent Temple and the Citadel , body structure that were the scenario of ritual linked to original founding myths , ” reported scientist in 2010 . “ [ Meanwhile ] the tunnel must have been related to the underworld concept . ” According to a report inProvincia , prototype show a series of stone symbols lining the burrow , which scientist believe was “ subsequently tumble for deposit something very important at the end the channel in the independent sleeping accommodation . ”
Tlaloc I ’s first transmitted image . Photo by INAH .
This is n’t the first instance of “ drone pipe archaeology . ” In 2011 , scientist in East - Central Asiaused a microdroneto generate an aerial mathematical function of Scythian burial reason in the remote Altai Mountains . And in Peru last year , archeologistsused an unmanned aerial vehicleto surveil the abandoned city of Mawchu Lllacta . Still , it ’s singular to watch how archeologic uncovering is evolving alongside drone applied science .
As for what ’s to come from beneath the temple at Teotihuacan , Provincia report that the airy drone is presently under testing . That means we ’ll likely get to see video of the sleeping accommodation before long — and suddenly , a internet site that ’s been closed to man for almost two millennia will be revealed to an hearing of millions . [ BLDGBLOG ]
Lead image by Melitón Tapia / INAH .
ArchaeologyDronesRobots
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