A radar investigation of pyramids

The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) has carried out geo-radar investigations at two archaeological sites, one in Peru and the other in the Canary Islands; in both cases anomalies were found in the pyramids. The frequency sweeping radar described in By et al. 1992, was used in the investigations. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of problems involved in the radar investigation of archaeological sites. The first is a technical problem, Le., how to obtain a clear radar image of subsurface reflectors. The second is how to translate the radar results into results useful to archaeologists. Radar sees all reflectors. Preliminary archaeological knowledge is therefore necessary to be able to sort out the useful information. The second problem may vary from case to case, but the first problem is common to all similar investigations. Our emphasis here is thus on the technical problems.The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) has carried out geo-radar investigations at two archaeological sites, one in Peru and the other in the Canary Islands; in both cases anomalies were found in the pyramids. The frequency sweeping radar described in By et al. 1992, was used in the investigations. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of problems involved in the radar investigation of archaeological sites. The first is a technical problem, Le., how to obtain a clear radar image of subsurface reflectors. The second is how to translate the radar results into results useful to archaeologists. Radar sees all reflectors. Preliminary archaeological knowledge is therefore necessary to be able to sort out the useful information. The second problem may vary from case to case, but the first problem is common to all similar investigations. Our emphasis here is thus on the technical problems.