Petra, there is much that still hides
The monument, consisting of a rectangular platform of 59 by 46 meters , has been located buried about 800 meters south of the city of Petra, thanks to the use of high-resolution satellite images, aerial photographs taken by drones and field studies to locate and document the structure, reports National Geographic, which includes the study published in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. The investigations were carried out in l Petra Archaeological Park, which covers an area of 264 km2 in which the city only covers an area of 6km2.
The archaeologists responsible for this study, Sarah Parcak and Christopher Tuttle, executive director of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, have determined that the large platform would house another slightly smaller platform originally paved with cobblestones and with a row of columns covering its eastern side . In turn, in the center of this small platform there would be a building (8.5 by 8.5 meters) facing east.
Experts, who have not yet carried out excavations, maintain that this structure he does not know the same in Petra and they consider that he could have played a public and ceremonial role , since after the Monastery it would be the second highest point of the place.