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by justdrew » Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:01 am
by slimmouse » Sun Aug 04, 2013 3:33 pm
by seemslikeadream » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:11 am
For the First Time Ever, Explore Angkor Wat With Google Street View
With more than 90,000 panoramic images, you can see the stunning Cambodian ruins up close from anywhere in the world
By Natasha Geiling
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
APRIL 3, 2014
Angkor, what remains of the capital of the Khmer Empire, is an incredibly beautiful place, but it's also very remote: tucked in the Cambodian jungle, at the intersection of jumbled ancient roads, its ruins remain off the beaten path and seemingly untouched by the modern world. Or at least it remained untouched until the 2000s, when the Cambodian government granted the oil company Sokimex rights to the money earned from ticket concessions to Angkor, and tourism to the ancient ruins skyrocketed—today, nearly two million visitors traipse over the temples' stones, causing irreversible damage to the site's foundations. Like Machu Picchu, once hidden from human view and then endangered by an influx of tourism, Angkor could eventually fall into complete ruin because of its appeal.
But now, those interested in exploring the wonder of Angkor don't need to make a trek to Southeast Asia—and risk contributing to the damage of the site—to enjoy what the ruins have to offer. For the first time ever, Google Maps is granting users an up-close view of Angkor, through Google's Street View project.
The move is an extension of Google Maps' mission to make sure that its maps are the most accurate, comprehensive and useful available to users. While to most people, this might materialize in the form of directions—using Google Maps to get you from Point A to Point B— the company doesn't see this as the limit for the product's technology.
"Increasingly, if you look at the amount of power we have in our cellphones, the ability for those phones to know your location and customize an experience around you, they are becoming fairly good at making sure that people are able to explore the world around them," says Manik Gupta, Google Maps Product Manager. "We want to make sure that we have the ability to share all these places with users all over the world."
A view of Angkor from Google Street View. (Google Maps)
Google Street View started in 2007, with the Street View car—an SUV with several computers in the back and a camera/laser apparatus strapped on top. Through the years, its technology has gotten more imaginative, using snowmobiles, trikes and trolleys with attached cameras to capture images. But in 2012, with the introduction of the Trekker—a backpack outfitted with a camera on top, complete with 15 lenses to take panoramic images—Street View could finally go off-road, bringing the world's most remote locations to users around the world. With the Trekker, the group has taken images of the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal and Venice.
"We want to do this all over the world, wherever we can," Gupta says. "We want to bring the world, in all its glory to all our users, wherever they are."
Using the Trekker to capture Angkor for Street View. (Google Maps)
For the Google Street View team, mapping Angkor was a logical step in its mission to map the world's most amazing places.
"Angkor is one of the most important sites in the world—people say it’s the 8th Wonder of the World—and it was obvious to us to start framing this project," Gupta explains.
Google Maps worked in conjunction with the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism and the Apsara Authority (the body in charge of the protection and management of Angkor), which helped Google send people out to Angkor with the Trekker in order to capture the massive, nearly 250-square-mile ruined city. In order to create a Street View image of the expansive area, Google took 90,000 shots, all 360-degree views, of Angkors temples, which number more than 100.
"It’s Cambodia sharing its culture with the rest of the world, which I think is pretty awesome," Gupta says.
Angkor, from Google Street View. (Google Maps)
Users can explore parts of Angkor in stunning detail, like the Bayon Temple, the central temple of the city Angkor Thom. Though the temple is Buddhist, it includes elements of Hindu mythology in its art. Built as a square, at the center of the city, it represents the intersection between heaven and earth.
The detailed art of Angkor can also be seen in the Street View images. Users can get an up-close look at the relief carvings that embellish the walls of Angkor Wat, perhaps the most famous temple complex in Angkor. Angkor Wat's famous bas-relief spans over 12,917 square feet of sandstone carvings.
Street View's digitization of Angkor isn't just valuable for short-term users looking to explore the ancient grounds—it creates a digital record of a place that can be used for posterity.
"This is a record and a digital mirror of what the world looks like at a particular moment," says Susan Cadrecha, Senior Communications Associate for Google Maps and Street View. "In that sense, we’re definitely working to preserve what this place is today, so that no matter what happens in the future, there will be a record of what it looked like in 2014."
by seemslikeadream » Thu May 29, 2014 12:02 am
slimmouse » Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:33 pm wrote:SLAD, In the video I reccommended earlier Hancock suggests that the Temple at Angkor Watt was indeed built when it is officially claimed it was built (11/1200 ad). But he also suggests that is most likely modelled on older buildings.
The main temple is aligned perfectly with the spring Equinox apparently, just as the Sphynx is.
For all of these sudden discoveries in and around Angkor Watt recently , Im left wondering if this might also be a case of "What lies beneath"
Mystical Paintings Suddenly Appear at Angkor Wat
MAY 27, 2014 07:01 PM ET // BY JENNIFER VIEGAS
The Locations of the Uncovered Paintings
NOEL HIDALGO TAN ET AL., ANTIQUITY PUBLICATIONS LTD.
Over 200 paintings dating to the 16th century were recently discovered at Cambodia’s Temple of Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious monument.
Angkor Wat is already famous for its spectacular bas-relief friezes depicting ceremonial and religious scenes, so this newly uncovered series of images only adds to the temple’s importance. This map of the temple shows, in red, where the newly found paintings are located.
“The paintings found at Angkor Wat seem to belong to a specific phase of the temple’s history in the 16th century A.D. when it was converted from a Vishnavaite Hindu use to Theravada Buddhist,” wrote Noel Hidalgo Tan and colleagues in a paper published in the latest issue of the journal Antiquity. Tan is a researcher in the College of Asia and the Pacific at Australian National University.
“Vishnavaite” refers to the fact that the temple was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It might have served as a mausoleum when it was first built during the 12th century reign of Suryavarman II (1113–1150 A.D.). “Theravada” refers to the oldest surviving branch of Buddhism
by Searcher08 » Fri May 30, 2014 9:04 am
by Iamwhomiam » Fri May 30, 2014 3:19 pm
by Searcher08 » Fri May 30, 2014 4:44 pm
Iamwhomiam » Fri May 30, 2014 7:19 pm wrote:Searcher, you leave your rigor home today?
http://www.google.com/search?q=LIDAR+imaging+of+Angor&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
by Iamwhomiam » Sat May 31, 2014 6:18 pm
by seemslikeadream » Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:32 am
Angkor Wat Yields Astounding Buried Towers & Spiral Structure
by Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | December 09, 2015 11:22am ET
Pin It At Angkor Wat, a massive sand structure encompassing several rectangular spirals was discovered using a laser-scanning technique called LiDAR.
Credit: Image courtesy Khmer Archaeology Lidar Consortium (KALC)
View full size image
Eight buried towers and the remains of a massive spiral structure created from sand have been discovered at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
The massive structure — almost a mile long — contains a spiral design, with several rectangular spirals that form a giant structure, archaeologists say. "This structure, which has dimensions of more than 1,500 m × 600 m (about 1 mile by 1,970 feet) is the most striking discovery associated with Angkor Wat to date. Its function remains unknown and, as yet, it has no known equivalent in the Angkorian world," Roland Fletcher, a University of Sydney professor, said in a statement put out by the university.
Today, the spiral structure is hard to make out on the ground, having been obscured by modern features and vegetation.
By examining the mile-long spiral structure and the stone towers, researchers date them back to when Angkor Wat was first built in the 12th century A.D. [See Photos of the Spiral Structure and Buried Towers at Angkor Wat]
King Suryavarman II had Angkor Wat built as a Hindu temple to the god Vishnu. The temple has a 213-foot-tall (65 meters) central tower that is surrounded by four smaller towers and a series of enclosure walls. The layout "is considered to correspond with the cosmology of Mount Meru and the surrounding Sea of Milk from which ambrosia was churned by the gods and demons," wrote a research team in an article published this month in the journal Antiquity.
Antiquity recently published a special section dedicated to the latest archaeological research at Angkor Wat.
Spiral mystery
The spiral structure is difficult to make out from the ground, and archaeologists found it using LiDAR — a laser-scanning technology that allows scientists to detect structures obscured by vegetation or modern development.
When surveyed on the ground the structure turned out to be made of "archaeologically sterile banks of sand," meaning it contained no artifacts from the past, wrote archaeologists Damian Evans, a researcher with École française d'Extrême-Orient, and Roland Fletcher in an Antiquity article.
"Quite how the spirals functioned is not at all clear," Evans and Fletcher wrote. One possibility is that it is a garden that provided the temple with produce for rituals and eating, the spiral patterns possibly having a spiritual significance.
Evans and Fletcher found that the spiral structure was not in use for long. A canal that cut through the spiral design was built later in the 12th century.
"The spiral features would only have been functional for a brief period during the mid-to-late twelfth century A.D.," Evans and Fletcher wrote. They say that it's possible the spiral structure was never completed.
Buried towers
remains of eight towers were discovered near the western gateway of Angkor WatPin It The remains of eight towers (marked in yellow) were discovered near the western gateway of Angkor Wat.
Credit: Image by Till Sonnemann and image base courtesy of ETH ZurichView full size image
Another discovery, made using ground-penetrating radar and archaeological excavation, are the remains of what appear to be eight demolished towers constructed out of sandstone and laterite (a type of rock). They were found on the western side of Angkor Wat beside a gateway across the moat.
The dating is not entirely clear but it appears that many of the towers were created during the early-to-mid 12th century when Angkor Wat was being constructed.
Archaeologists found that some of the towers form a series of squares that may have supported one or more structures. They also found that many of the towers were constructed before the gateway wall.
They theorize that the towers could have supported a shrine that was in use while construction of Angkor Wat was underway.
"The configuration of the buried 'towers' contains the unique possibility that a shrine was built on the western side of the Angkor Wat platform during the period when the main temple was being constructed," a research team wrote in an article published in Antiquity.
Once the main temple was constructed and work on the gateway across the western moat began, the shrine could have been torn down, researchers say.
More discoveries
Archaeologists uncovered several other secrets of Angkor Wat. For instance, the LiDAR survey revealed the remains of homes and ponds that would have been used by workers who serviced the temple.
Additionally, researchers found that later in Angkor Wat's history — after it had been converted to a Buddhist temple — the site was turned into a military fortification with wooden structures being built to defend the moated site.
"Angkor Wat is the first and only known example of an Angkorian temple being systematically modified for use in a defensive capacity," Fletcher said. The fortification of it was "one of the last major constructions at Angkor and is perhaps indicative of its end."
by Iamwhomiam » Tue Mar 29, 2016 12:31 pm
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