Aerial Archaeology Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

In archaeological research the exploration of archaeological monuments from the air has a long tradition and thus can be seen as a necessary component. At this point our project ‘ArchEye’ steps in as a cheap and flexible method and also... more

In archaeological research the exploration of archaeological monuments from the air has a long tradition and thus can be seen as a necessary component. At this point our project ‘ArchEye’ steps in as a cheap and flexible method and also as a new way to document different archaeological areas and objects without using manned aircrafts.

SUMMARY: Chapter 3, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers many approaches to looking for and finding sites, and archaeological remains within sites, such as historical and local reports,... more

SUMMARY: Chapter 3, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers many approaches to looking for and finding sites, and archaeological remains within sites, such as historical and local reports, ground reconnaissance (e.g., walking surveys; sampling strategies), aerial surveys (e.g., LiDAR; crop marks), satellite remote sensing, recording & mapping (e.g., GIS), subsurface detection (e.g., probes), ground-based remote sensing (seismic; acoustic; electromagnetic; magnetic; etc.), excavation techniques, underwater archaeology, and processing & classification. In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record. REVISED: Jan. 2023.

The identification of buried archaeological structures, using remote sensing technologies (aerophotos or satellite and airborne images) is based on the principle that any buried ruins, either of human or natural origin, affects over time,... more

The identification of buried archaeological structures, using remote sensing technologies (aerophotos or satellite and airborne images) is based on the principle that any buried ruins, either of human or natural origin, affects over time, soil surface characteristics creating anomalies.
These anomalies are due to different factors, such as soil physical and chemical features, and vegetation cover status. The above factors are strictly connected and are responsible of surface spectral responses.
Several images processing are applied and their results compared in order to define the one that fits better the various archaeological research goals. Among them, Vegetation Indices revealed to be very useful archaeological study.
Spectral Vegetation Indices are important products in observing spatial and temporal variations of vegetation biophysical properties and photosynthetic activities, by which is possible to analyse the effects of buried ruins presence on vegetation cover status.
The aim of this work is to assess the usefulness of vegetation indices in order to identify archaeological traces and verify the quantitative estimates of presence of buried archaeological structures in every type of elaboration (RVI, VIN, NDVI and SAVI).
Statistical analysis were conducted on several Italian archaeological test sites processing by hyperspectral MIVIS (Multispectral Infrared and Visible Imaging Spectrometer) various typologies of vegetation cover.
The study of these anomalies on MIVIS hyperspectral data is the main goal of a research project that the CNR-IIA has carried ahead since 1994 over some archaeological sites: Selinunte, Lilybaeum, Sipontum and Arpi. The Arpi area could be considered as the wider Pre-roman settlement in Italy.

Since the astronomer and composer Sir Frederick William Herschel (1738-1822) discovered in 1800 the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, many other scientists became interested in this kind of invisible radiation. It lasted,... more

Since the astronomer and composer Sir Frederick William Herschel (1738-1822) discovered in 1800 the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, many other scientists became interested in this kind of invisible radiation. It lasted, however, until 1904 for the first near-infrared photograph to be taken. From the 1930s onwards, this unusual type of imaging was practised more elaborately, specifically to examine damaged and censored writings or study blood patterns for medical purposes.
After 1935 – the year in which one of the earliest infrared aerial photographs was taken from a stratosphere balloon – the trend was set. Less than a decade afterwards, aerial infrared colour film became extensively used for its camouflage detection capabilities in WWII. Today, orbital and aerial NIR recording serves a great number of applications, being intensively used by the military as well as the scientific fields of hydrology, geology, forestry and archaeology.
Up till now, NIR radiation was mostly captured in an analogue way by infrared sensitive plates or film emulsions (black-and-white or colour), or digitally by satellites or high-tech multispectral sensors. For various reasons (cost, resolving power, lack of hardware etc.), aerial archaeologists use(d) the analogue NIR approach to study their objects (some examples are – amongst others – the work of Bradford, Strandberg, Solecki, Edienne and Martin).
Such a film-based workflow is however very error-prone, as the emulsions need to be stored cooled and developed by specialised labs directly after exposing them. Moreover, determining the right exposure is not as straightforward as with conventional/standard (i.e. visible light) photography. Together with some ignorance and/or lack of knowledge about the subject, this critical imaging process severely restricted NIR radiation to be captured by aerial archaeologists so far.
However, this changed completely with the advent of digital cameras. As their sensors are very sensitive to NIR radiation, the whole process of taking NIR photographs is much less of a cumber stone. The poster under consideration wants to show how NIR imagery can be taken with normal (and converted) digital cameras, what the images look like, compare the advantages (and disadvantages) to normal aerial imaging (e.g. haze penetration, enhanced clarity of detail and visualization of stressed vegetation) as well as outline a basic approach of NIR image processing.

We would like to invite you to join this exciting new project as a chapter contributor. Since this is a textbook, a great deal of this chapter entails a survey on the topic under the paradigm of cyber-physical systems, what can be done... more

We would like to invite you to join this exciting new project as a chapter contributor. Since this is a textbook, a great deal of this chapter entails a survey on the topic under the paradigm of cyber-physical systems, what can be done onboard and remotely, the distributed nature of the system and some exercises on futurology (anticipating trends can shed some light on upcoming designs). IET will bring great visibility to your work. You are welcome to suggest another topic/chapter title if you feel it would be more suitable. Each chapter should be around 20-25 pages each and can be submitted as a Word or Latex File. The IET will send you additional information (formatting, permission form, etc.) with the contributor's agreement once you have agreed to contribute to the book. Visit http:// www.theiet.org/resources/author-hub/books/index.cfm to get all information you need as a contributor to an IET research-level book. Each book is expected to have a total number of 500 printed pages (based on approximately 550 words per page with a 20% allowance for figures and tables). We have included a tentative schedule and list of topics below. If this is something you would consider, please send me the title of your chapter, a short description/abstract of the chapter content, and your full contact details. We will expect original content and new results for this book. You can, of course, reuse published material but the percentage of material reuse for the chapter should be less than 40%. The IET will run a piracy software on the full manuscript to control that you are including original material and will reject chapters who contain a large amount of already-published material so please do take this into consideration.

This research evaluates and discusses distinct types of data to propose the possible existence of an extinct lake which was reported by the chronicles and depicted on most South American maps from the end of the 16th century to the... more

This research evaluates and discusses distinct types of data to propose the possible existence of an extinct lake which was reported by the chronicles and depicted on most South American maps from the end of the 16th century to the mid-19th century. The methodology and results derive from the analysis and combination of historical sources, indigenous oral traditions, geological and archaeological studies, digital elevation models (DEM) as well as aerial, and satellite remote sensing surveys performed by NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Missions (SRTM), the Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument, and the TanDEM-X synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). In addition, an assemblage of artifacts discovered within the study area is also assessed and contrasted to the historical and the remote sensing results.

Cet ouvrage présente les notices des sites archéologiques recensés par Maurice Marsac. Elles sont établies à partir des couverture aérienne militaire réalisées consécutivement pendant 3 années dans une période favorable. Ces couvertures... more

Cet ouvrage présente les notices des sites archéologiques recensés par Maurice Marsac. Elles sont établies à partir des couverture aérienne militaire réalisées consécutivement pendant 3 années dans une période favorable. Ces couvertures aériennes ont depuis été déposées aux Archives départementales des Deux-Sèvres, ainsi que le fonds documentaire Maurice Marsac.

This paper presents selected examples of landscape transformations that took place in western Poland after World War II. My interpretations will be based on archival and contemporary aerial photographs, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data... more

This paper presents selected examples of landscape transformations that took place in western Poland after World War II. My interpretations will be based on archival and contemporary aerial photographs, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data and historical sources. The cultural landscape of western Poland after World War II was a product of discourse based on opposition and denial in the relationship to German culture. It was a subject of propaganda driven by the need to justify border changes. That destructive process reflects not only the new political order, but also major changes in the understanding of values such as national identity, tradition and cultural heritage.

Lucidi della presentazione a Drones Conference presso COTA il 19-11-2016 a pontedera

A könyv a légirégészet történeti fejlődését mutatja be a fényképészet és a repülés fejlődésétől a legújabb technológiák alkalmazásáig. Hangsúlyt helyez a magyar légirégészet történetének megismertetésére, illetve részletesebben... more

A könyv a légirégészet történeti fejlődését mutatja be a fényképészet és a repülés fejlődésétől a legújabb technológiák alkalmazásáig. Hangsúlyt helyez a magyar légirégészet történetének megismertetésére, illetve részletesebben foglalkozik az ilyen kutatásokat végző hazai intézményekkel is.
A könyv elsősorban az egyetemi hallgatókat ("egyetemi jegyzet") és a téma iránt érdeklődő közönséget célozza. Tudományos ismeretterjesztő munkaként jegyzeteket nem tartalmaz, de tájékoztató irodalma elősegíti a témában való elmélyülés lehetőségét.

Circular stone structures are common throughout the Middle East and can date to almost any period. To date at least 12 examples have been recorded in Jordan but now a single further example near Homs in Syria has been published. The... more

Circular stone structures are common throughout the Middle East and can date to almost any period. To date at least 12 examples have been recorded in Jordan but now a single further example near Homs in Syria has been published. The latter is one of the few to have been examined in some detail on the ground; most are known only from brief reports although all the Jordanian examples may be viewed on the Flickr site of the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME). Dating is problematic in every case, though they seem certainly to be pre-Roman.

In our study, we want to present the methodological background and the results of geophysical investigations of the Roman rural sites at Bakonya-Csucsa-dűlő, Cserdi-Horgas-dűlő and Szabadszentkirály-Gerdei-árok partja near Pécs (Baranya... more

In our study, we want to present the methodological background and the results of geophysical investigations of the Roman rural sites at Bakonya-Csucsa-dűlő, Cserdi-Horgas-dűlő and Szabadszentkirály-Gerdei-árok partja near Pécs (Baranya County, Hungary), conducted in recent years.

The Leitha river is an important tributary to the Danube in eastern Austria. It is formed by the Schwarza river, originating in the Northern Calcareous Alps, and the Pitten river, coming from the Lower Austroalpine unit of the Wechsel... more

The Leitha river is an important tributary to the Danube in eastern Austria. It is formed by the Schwarza river, originating in the Northern Calcareous Alps, and the Pitten river, coming from the Lower Austroalpine unit of the Wechsel area. The geometry of paleochannels of the Leitha river was investigated in the framework of an archaeological project analysing patterns of prehistoric settlements in this region. For such considerations the present regulated condition of the rivers are not a well suited analogue since they behave in different ways to natural rivers. The study area is located between the confluence of Pitten and Schwarza (forming the Leitha) near Lanzenkirchen and Bruck/Leitha by paleochannel digitization in a GIS environment using infrared and black and white aerial photography. This section is especially suitable for the study of dynamic fluvial processes and the comparison between former natural river behavior and present regulated riverbed, because of the transition from relatively high to low river slopes in this section. Additionally, this area has been densely populated in prehistoric and historic times. Thus interaction between land use, settlement pattern and the dynamic system of the Leitha river can be studied. The digitized paleochannels were analysed together with additional data such as a digital elevation model, soil maps, Quaternary thickness maps and several lithostrati-graphic sections in the alluvial deposits of the Paleo-Leitha done by H. Kellermann during archaeological excavations north of Frohsdorf. Characteristic morphometric parameters of the Leitha river, like stream slope and paleochannel shape, were calculated. Generally, the stream slope of the investigated river section decreases towards the NNE from 0.23° to 0.07°. Simultaneously to the overall continuous change in slope a transition from braided river type channels to single meandering channels can be observed. The course of the Leitha in the investigated area is located within the Vienna basin, a major pull-apart structure with tectonic activity from Miocene to present. Fault-slip analysis, seismicity and tilted terraces of the Danube and fault scarps indicate Qua-ternary activity for at least some of the faults. The effects of this tectonic activity are well preserved in the paleochannel geometry and river profiles of the Leitha river.
Abandoned meander belts, as an example, reveal possible tectonic tilting towards the Southeast in the Southern Vienna Basin and a paleochannel migration towards the same direction. The constantly changing river channels and linked flood hazards in the floodplains has always been an important determining factor for the selection of settlement areas. Archaeological sites, for instance, are mainly located on the rim of the Würmian terraces, at the margin of the subrecent floodplain.

The Villa of the Emperor Domitian near the promontory of Circeo on the shore of the coastal lake of Paola, is a monumental complex of the greatest importance which today is located in a 45.96 hectare natural reserve in the Parco... more

The Villa of the Emperor Domitian near the promontory of Circeo on the shore of the coastal lake of Paola, is a monumental complex of the greatest importance which today is located in a 45.96 hectare natural reserve in the Parco Nazionale del Circeo.
This area from the 18th century up to 1939 was rented for agricultural purposes to private citizens. Since 1940, it has been devoted to pine seed cultivation, which, along with clandestine excavations of the 18th century, has lead to a significant reduction in the visibility of the surviving archaeological remains.
Thanks to the discovery of air photos in the archives of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Lazio and of the ICCD - Aerofototeca di Stato, taken before the plantation of the pines, the acquisition of valuable information about the structures of this villa, which are no longer visible due to the thickness of the trees, is now possible.
Information offered by this archive was not limited to the survey phase, but, through the restitution of the archaeological traces, it has contributed a great deal to the realization of a general archaeological cartography, an essential tool in order to continue investigations of the site.

The aim of this project is to systematize all the archaeological evidence within the municiplaities of Corbetta and Albairate (MI) and to identify new sites through traditional methods and new technologies. The research steps were: the... more

The aim of this project is to systematize all the archaeological evidence within the municiplaities of Corbetta and Albairate (MI) and to identify new sites through traditional methods and new technologies. The research steps were: the collection of the existing informations, including the unpublished documents from Archivio Pisani Dossi; the analysis of vertical, historical, aerial photographs; the ground truth checking of sites and anomalies through field survey and drone survey, with both visbile and thermic cameras. Images, captured with photogrammetry standards, were elaborated to obtain 3D models, orthophotos and DEMs. All data were managed in a GIS environment.

LiDAR—like photography and other visual technologies—not only produces pictures but extends our power to detect, record, and imagine landscapes. It allows very precise three-dimensional mapping of the surface of the earth, generating as... more

LiDAR—like photography and other visual technologies—not only produces pictures but extends our power to detect, record, and imagine landscapes. It allows very precise three-dimensional mapping of the surface of the earth, generating as it does high-resolution topographic data even where surface is obscured by forest and vegetation. Interpretation of LiDAR data poses much more than just technical challenges. What makes LiDAR different from other topographic techniques is absence of selectiveness: data are typically gathered across complete landscape blocks recording landscape in an indiscriminate way. This allows us to address complex sites as integral parts of landscapes and as landscapes in themselves. In this way we can analyze complex sites as palimpsests, created through processes and practices that accumulated and inscribed new traces or erased old ones. Study of complex sites is thus part of the study of landscapes, landscape archaeology.

This research is a case study for the reconstruction of the “story elements” of archaeological landscape of the ancient city of Pompei. The aim is the realization of a descriptive summary of the archaeological “reveal” landscape, through... more

This research is a case study for the reconstruction of the “story elements” of archaeological landscape of the ancient city of Pompei. The aim is the realization of a descriptive summary of the archaeological “reveal” landscape, through the georeferencing and the vectorization of the ancient plans of Pompei, edit between the 1748 and the 1815 (Latapie, 1776; Piranesi, 1786; La Vega,1800-1809; D'Ancora, 1809; Murray-Cook, 1810); Miccolupo, 1811; Mazois, 1812; Russo, 1815) and the archaeological excavations. The plans have been included in a GIS (Geographical Information System). A list of 103 aerial photographs, taken between the 1910 and the 1999 (Genio Militare, Royal Air Force, Aeronautica Militare, SAF and Fotocielo), maintained by Aerofototeca Nazionale in Rome, was made in the interests of protection and knowledge of tangible and intangible landscape of historic memory. Also, the creation of a chronicle of structural collapses, between the 2003 and the 2017, has been useful for the enhancement of the archaeological site and the safety of the tourists.

Shortly after the release of Google Earth, its applications to archaeology was theorized and tested, but thus far there has been little research to evaluate its applicability to survey previously well researched and accessible areas. In... more

Shortly after the release of Google Earth, its applications to archaeology was theorized and tested, but thus far there has been little research to evaluate its applicability to survey previously well researched and accessible areas. In order to test this potential application of Google Earth images, I surveyed 965 sq. km of Northumberland by defining 23 small survey areas. These survey areas were scattered across the county using the Landscape Characterization Zones, to take into account the different landforms, as well as past and present land uses, that may impact the site distribution. In the survey, I identified 170 potential archaeological sites, of which more than 21% were previously unrecorded according to the Heritage Environment Records. A comparison with aerial photographs of a sub-sample of my sites, as well as analysis of my results, revealed very important information about the site distribution in Northumberland, and about the applicability of Google Earth images to archaeology. Although Google Earth is far from the perfect tool for archaeological surveys, its success in past surveys as well as in the present survey clearly indicates that it is a very useful tool for archaeological surveying, even in accessible and previously well-researched areas.

Full text available at https://doi.org/10.34780/faak.v2i0.1000 - The Geoglyphs of Palpa, Peru is a revision of the author´s Ph.D. thesis. In this study, the famed geoglyphs of the Paracas and Nasca cultures on the south coast of Peru... more

Full text available at https://doi.org/10.34780/faak.v2i0.1000 -
The Geoglyphs of Palpa, Peru is a revision of the author´s Ph.D. thesis. In this study, the famed geoglyphs of the Paracas and Nasca cultures on the south coast of Peru are investigated in order to better understand their function and meaning. Combining aerial photogrammetry, archaeological fieldwork, and GIS-based analysis, more than 600 geoglyphs in the vicinity of the modern town of Palpa were recorded and analyzed. This interdisciplinary approach enabled the establishment of the first digital archive of these prehispanic monuments. It also led to important new insights into the origin, development, and spatial context of the geoglyphs. The Palpa dataset was furthermore used to test a recent model that explains the function and meaning of the Nasca geoglyphs in terms of Andean social, cultural, and religious traditions. The results of this study indicate that the ancient activities which took place on the geoglyphs revolved around concepts of water and fertility, and were a means of expressing social status and cultural concepts. The geoglyphs integrated the desert into the cultural landscape of the valley-based Paracas and Nasca societies, and were thus a valuable cultural resource that can still be appreciated today.

Along the route of the ancient via Ardeatina, about one mile (1,800m.) East to Km 20.800, there are the remains of a large suburban villa dating back to the end of the Republican age. The villa’s complex covers a large plateau sloping... more

Along the route of the ancient via Ardeatina, about one mile (1,800m.) East to Km 20.800, there are the remains of a large suburban villa dating back to the end of the Republican age.
The villa’s complex covers a large plateau sloping towards West-Southwest and is bordered to the North by a tributary canal of Santa Procula ditch, and to the South by the so called Rio Secco or Santa Palomba ditch.
The villa was first tracked by Pietro Rosa and illustrated between 1850 and 1870, in the Topographic Map of Lazio.
In June 1965, during a detection flight of the 31st fleet of Italian Air Force helicopters a series of oblique aerial photographs of the settlement were taken at low altitude.
The photos taken immediately after the wheat harvest made it possible to define the remains of the villa for the first time, since the traces of the walls had produced negative cropmarks in the growing Alfalfa.
In 1970 Giulio Schmiedt of the Geographic Military Institute of Florence published a single photo of the remains of the villa, chosen among those previously taken in 1965; this document has been taken up as the only photographic source of the site by all the next bibliography.
In the same year, Giovanni M. De Rossi published in the volume Apiolae of the work Forma Italiae a study of the area in which he provided the first data and planimetry villa Fontanile di Palazzo.
Fifty years after the discovery of the site, the review of photographic documentation preserved at the National Aerofototeca of the Italian Minister of Culture and Tourism made it possible to propose an updated plan of the villa.
With the observation of aerial photographs, it is possible to outline the two occupation phases of the area: the first is represented by the cenral part of the villa (I century BC - I century AD), while the second is characterized by the likely presence of burial structures (II-III century AD?).
Maybe the villa might have belonged to Quinto Valerio Sorano, tribune of plebs in 82 B.C.

Aerial photography is one of the most important and cost-effective ways of recording traces of the past and discovering new sites. It also offers the archaeologist an alternative viewpoint on these archaeological traces, and is one of the... more

Aerial photography is one of the most important and cost-effective ways of recording traces of the past and discovering new sites. It also offers the archaeologist an alternative viewpoint on these archaeological traces, and is one of the most exciting and challenging types of fieldwork. The experiences of the contributors to this volume highlight the role that bias, subjectivity and perception play in the shaping of flights and in the results themselves. They draw on important aspects of archaeological fieldwork such as experience, intuition, improvisation, emotion and stress, which are all too often left unarticulated. These contributions from the practitioners, photographers and interpreters that from the aerial archaeological community present a counterpoint to the traditional textbook.

This book is an abridged version of my Ph.D. thesis. It aims to explore and evaluate the present potential of aerial and satellite imagery for archaeological research. Given the enormous volume of information collected by aerial survey... more

This book is an abridged version of my Ph.D. thesis. It aims to explore and evaluate the present potential of aerial and satellite imagery for archaeological research. Given the enormous volume of information collected by aerial survey during the past decades and the recent introduction of new powerful sensors (both airborne and spaceborne), the incoming impact of this approach on the academic research and cultural heritage management is inevitably immense. It is argued that the cumulative process of data gathering and synthesis should result in the production of interpretative maps that may serve different purposes, in accordance with the pre-set rules governing their preparation. Two landscape transects from the Czech Republic are treated in the book and their archaeological potential inferred from the interpretation of aerial photographs is mapped in GIS and published as web map services.

Structure from motion (SFM) algorithms are known for their ability to reconstruct a sparse point cloud of scenes that were imaged by a series of overlapping photographs. When complemented by stereo-matching algorithms, detailed... more

Structure from motion (SFM) algorithms are known for their ability to reconstruct a sparse point cloud of scenes that were imaged by a series of overlapping photographs. When complemented by stereo-matching algorithms, detailed three-dimensional models can be built from such photograph collections in a fully automated way. Since 2010, a computer vision software package called PhotoScan has been available from the Russian manufacturer AgiSoft LLC. Even though the programme has a straightforward and simple interface, state-of-the-art SFM and other computer vision algorithms are implemented that enable PhotoScan to generate very dense and accurate three-dimensional meshes of various (archaeological) settings captured in two-dimensional imagery. Using a mixture of archaeological case studies, it will be shown that this low-cost application produces excellent results from aerial imagery in a minimum of time with almost no effort needed. Because of its solid and uncomplicated operation, it looks like this application could become an essential part of the aerial archaeologist's toolkit.

The starting point for this contribution is that an aerial perspective should play an important role in landscape archaeology, the significance of that role depending on context and the questions being asked. This is not to adopt a... more

The starting point for this contribution is that an aerial perspective should play an important role in landscape archaeology, the significance of that role depending on context and the questions being asked. This is not to adopt a competitive position where different perspectives and sources of information and understanding are ‘better’ or ‘worse’, because that would be to miss the point about the inherently holistic philosophy of landscape archaeology, but rather to ask what are the uses of aerial photographs and remote sensed data in a problem-orientated approach to landscape. Central to the successful use of any source of information is the clear definition of objectives (research design) and an explicit understanding of how different sources may contribute to understanding the history (or histories) of the landscape (for example). This chapter aims to provide the reader with a commentary on aerial photographs and aerial reconnaissance for landscape studies, not as a prescriptive technical ‘manual’ but to encourage the application of this perspective and sources in ways that are appropriate to context.