Google Maps and Google Earth have turned out to be great investigating tools. Luca Mori,
an Italian computer programmer, has discovered a Roman villa around his
town of Sorbolo, near Parma — but he found it not by walking around
but by searching with Google’s tools.
After spotting some unfamiliar “rectangular shadows,” he contacted an
archaeologist and his discovery was confirmed. Mori explains his finding
process in his weblog, Quelli Della Bassa, which has received many visits in recent days. The discovery also has been reported by Nature magazine.
The interesting point about this discovery is the confirmation that
tools like Google Maps and Google Earth can facilitate many
investigations that were more difficult without these satellite or
birds-eye views being so readily available. This also can be applied to
journalism research, especially on environmental issues.
