Who: Carl-Johan Dalgaard and his team of researchers.
What: They discovered a “remarkable pattern of persistence showing that greater Roman road density goes along with greater modern road density (and) greater economic activity in 2010.”
The idea: To combine datasets of old roman roads and images of modern Europe at night.
How
The team produced a map of roads across the Roman Empire when it was at its greatest geographical extent, in the year 117 AD. They then compared it with a 2010 satellite image of contemporary Europe at night, with the most brightly illuminated areas indicating major cities, towns, and motorways.
Materials and technologies:
Datasets and satellite images of modern Europe at night
Similar projects: none
Media of the project:
Auction|NFT: none
