Lost city is a term
that is generally considered to refer to a well-populated area which fell into
terminal decline, became extensively or completely uninhabited, and whose
location has been forgotten. Some lost cities whose locations have been
rediscovered have been studied extensively by scientists. Recently abandoned
cities or cities whose location was never in question might be referred to as
ruins or ghost towns. The search for such lost cities by European explorers and
adventurers in the Americas, Africa and in Southeast Asia from the 15th century onward eventually
led to the development of archaeology.
