Google Earth: Archaeologist Tool

"I've spent 25 years in this region of France," Madry said. "In the whole time, I've found a handful of archaeological sites. I found more in the first five, six, seven hours than I've found in years of traditional field surveys and aerial archaeology."

In all, he recorded 101 possible ancient sites along with their longitudes and latitudes. This spring, he visited the French Ministry of Culture's archaeology office in Dijon to compare what he found on the Internet with what the French have found on the ground. The government files confirmed his hunch.

About 75 percent of his computer-screen finds were known archaeological sites, proving that what look like ancient remains on the Internet can be bona fide finds. A share of the remaining 25 percent could be new sites that -- until now -- have escaped discovery. More.