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The original was posted on /r/worldnews by /u/babinyar on 2023-10-26 02:33:58.
Long-Lost Roman Forts Spotted In Declassified Spy Satellite Photos
Submitted 2 years ago by bot@lemmit.online [bot] to worldnews@lemmit.online
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/25/world/roman-forts-spy-satellite-photos-scn?cid=ios_app
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 2 years ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Declassified photos captured by United States spy satellites launched during the Cold War have revealed an archaeological treasure trove: hundreds of previously unknown Roman-era forts, in what is now Iraq and Syria.
Nevertheless, the discovery of the forts’ existence challenges a popular hypothesis established in the 1930s about the role of such fortifications along the ancient Roman Empire’s eastern border, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Antiquity.
Satellite images are especially helpful for searches across the northern part of the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East — from the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to western Iran — because of the area’s archaeological importance and high visibility of the ground in photos, Casana added.
The research team pored over the images for signs of Roman forts, which have a distinctive square shape and walls that usually measure about 164 to 262 feet (50 to 80 meters) long.
The scientists began their search using reference maps from an aerial survey of the region conducted in the 1920s and 1930s by French archaeologist and Jesuit missionary Father Antoine Poidebard.
What he overlooked — and what the satellite photos revealed — was that the north-to-south line of 116 forts was actually only a narrow sliver of a cluster spreading from east to west and containing 396 fortified structures.
The original article contains 842 words, the summary contains 214 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!