Pacific's 'Ghost City' Exposed: Aerial Views

A forgotten metropolis, a monument to the transient essence of human achievement, sits inert amid the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Once a bustling metropolis, this place has been abandoned and is now known as a “ghost city,” with its buildings remaining mysterious and its streets silent.

Pacific’s ‘Ghost City’

The sophisticated nature of the once-thriving ghost city of Nan Madol and its current concealment in the midst of the Pacific Ocean have been made clear by precision-laser aerial scans. Referred to as “the Venice of the Pacific,” Nan Madol is a megalithic stone city that has been likened to the mythical Atlantis. Currently, efforts are being made by scholars to excavate the city’s ruins in preparation for its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“A complex and vast landscape of cultivation features hidden beneath Temwen Island’s vegetation” was discovered by the aerial surveys, which were carried out using LiDAR, or “Light Detection and Ranging,” laser mapping.

The history of Pacific Island cultures is being completely rewritten by this study, which explains how advanced agricultural planning was actually practiced by these societies, despite the common belief that they relied solely on subsistence fishing and the abundance of tropical plants. “LiDAR can reveal whole archaeological landscapes hidden under heavy vegetation,” the multinational study team stated. Because of this, it has been compared to radiocarbon dating as a revolutionary technological advancement in archaeology.”

Here Are The Findings From The Ghost City Research

Under the direction of Baltimore’s Cultural Site Research and Management (CSRM) Foundation, scientists studied Nan Madol’s network of irrigation terraces that formerly provided freshwater, as well as the area’s lush tropical flora, which conceals other ruins. According to archaeologists, Nan Madol flourished from 1100 to 1628 AD, and the fall of the Saudeleur rulers in the 17th century marked the beginning of the city’s demise.

“The consensus among archaeologists has been that there was no intensification of agriculture in Micronesia by means of formal field systems,” project head Dr. Douglas Comer stated. Working with Stanford, Sandia National Laboratories, the local College of Micronesia, and other organizations, Dr. Comer’s team has challenged long-held beliefs that cultures flourished on fermented “breadfruit” (Artocarpus altilis).

He added that a “amazingly complex system of irrigated fields covering Temwen island” suggested the possibility of early and advanced taro root farming in a press release from the US State Department. According to his team’s 2019 journal Remote Sensing study, “the Temwen system also bears a resemblance to some Polynesian terracing systems, including the Kohala field system on Hawaii Island and recently described slope terraces on Tutuila in American Samoa.” “Such complexity is in accord with what is observed in the LiDAR images of Temwen,” he stated.