 A project team of professionals from NASA and the University of Colorado searched in the mountains for ancient footpaths, the oldest known in the New World, buried under six volcanic deposits and obscured from the air by a 150-foot jungle canopy.The difference in moisture level of the soils detected by TIMS led to their discovery.Although they saw no physical evidence of the footpaths on the ground, the team dug trenches to confirm their existence through archaeological investigation.