Lidar and Lost Cities: Examining the Public Presentation of Recent Lidar Findings through News Media

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ID: 288500
2025
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Ranked #893 of 1,244 articles by views in ADVANCES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRACTICE

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Abstract
This review considers how scientific archaeological publications, especially those relying on new digital technologies, can become sensationalized for the public in popular media. I present three separate examples of lidar-based mappings of ancient landscapes in the Amazon and Central Asia, each initially published by archaeological teams in the journals Nature or Science since 2022. These academic publications were followed by many news articles in the popular press. A common trope of these popular presentations includes the concept of “lost cities” being finally “found” by the lidar surveys. This oversimplification usually ignores existing knowledge, especially that of Indigenous local communities and archaeologists. We archaeologists should, therefore, become more aware of the potential consequences of our scholarly communications. We should consider the public’s experience with parsing scientific advances and what ways we can try to influence the public discourse.
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persistent_1761421092_68fd2724ebf17 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Kathryn Reese-Taylor
Journal ADVANCES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRACTICE
Year 2025
DOI
10.1017/aap.2025.2
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