Lasers Unearth Lost 'Agropolis' of New England

sciencehabit writes "Hidden ruins are customary in the wild jungles of South America or on the white shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Now, researchers have uncovered a long-lost culture closer to Western civilization — in New England. Using aerial surveys created by LiDAR, a laser-guided mapping technique, the team detected the barely perceptible remnants of a former 'agropolis' around three rural New England towns (abstract). Near Ashford, Connecticut, a vast network of roads offset by stone walls came to light underneath a canopy of oak and spruce trees. More than half of the town has become reforested since 1870, according to historical documents, exemplifying the extent of the rural flight that marked the late 1800s. Some structures were less than 2 feet high and buried in inaccessible portions of the forest, making them essentially invisible to on-the-ground cartography."

lost in time

[confused one]

In a century or two, someone will look back at the U.S. and unearth the evidence that it once had vast manufacturing capability.

Someday these lasers will find pre-beta Slashdot.

[Anonymous Coward]

Many years from now, digital archaeologists will use similar technology to find the remnants of pre-beta Slashdot.

They'll be stunned at what they find. They'll find a site that's actually readable, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site where discussion can easily take place, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site that loads quickly, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site that isn't riddled with large, useless images, unlike the Slashdot Beta site. They'll find a site that isn't rife with unnecessary whitespace, unlike the Slashdot Beta site.

Academic papers will be written based on this discovery. Entire academic careers will be built upon these papers!

Scientists will ask, "How in the fuck did they screw up the Slashdot Beta web site so damn badly? How in the fuck did they ever allow it to go live? Why the fuck didn't they kill that piece-of-shit project immediately?"

Lovecraft country

[laejoh]

"Long lost civilization" and "New England" have a whole different meaning once you've read Lovecraft :)

Re:long lost civilization

[DexterIsADog]

Well, given that the U.S. was founded as a country in the 18th century, and for comparison, tour guides in Paris dismiss anything younger than 500 years as "contemporary", yeah, that's pretty long lost.

Re:Summary (and article's first paragraph) mislead

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Attention Rest Of World, we in the US consider stuff from the 1800s not only old, but akin to ancient ruins.

Vizitez u our museums with art from the Olde Masters like Norman Rockwell and Robert Crumb.

Re:Summary (and article's first paragraph) mislead

[ebno-10db]

"To an American a hundred years is a long time, and to a Briton a hundred miles is a long distance."

-- attribution unknown

Re:Summary (and article's first paragraph) mislead

[antek9]

... and to a German, a hundred miles per hour is a traffic jam.