Cities in the Sky (Full Episode) | Lost Cities with Albert Lin Compilation | National Geographic
Why It Matters
By turning dense jungle and desert into searchable 3‑D maps, LiDAR accelerates discovery of lost cultures, informing scholarship, tourism and preservation strategies worldwide.
Key Takeaways
- •LiDAR scans reveal hidden terraces and structures at Ciudad Perdida.
- •Tairona civilization once housed up to 10,000 people on mountain ridges.
- •Aerial laser mapping can identify potential new sites before ground expeditions.
- •Field teams confirmed pottery and stone walls, validating remote-sensing data.
- •Similar LiDAR approach now targeting unexplored Nabatean site Sela in Jordan.
Summary
The episode follows explorer Albert Lin as he combines aerial LiDAR with on‑the‑ground archaeology to map and explore two legendary lost‑city regions – the Tairona stronghold of Ciudad Perdida in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada and the little‑studied Nabatean site of Sela in Jordan.
LiDAR mounted on a helicopter emitted roughly 400,000 laser pulses per second, stripping away dense jungle canopy to produce a 3‑D model that highlighted white, flat surfaces indicating terraces, walls and pathways. The scans revealed previously unknown extensions of Ciudad Perdida and pinpointed a flat ridge that later yielded Tairona pottery, cut stone and terrace walls, confirming the remote‑sensing predictions.
Lin remarks that “pixels become reality” as Santiago Giraldo exclaims, “Oh my god, okay,” upon seeing the digital reconstruction. The team’s field verification – uncovering pottery shards and stone blocks on the newly identified ridge – demonstrates how high‑resolution remote data can guide precise, low‑risk excavations.
The successful integration of LiDAR reshapes how archaeologists locate and protect buried heritage, opening the door to dozens of undiscovered settlements across the Americas and the Middle East while reducing exposure to conflict zones and fragile ecosystems.
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