|
|
|
June 2004 |
Geomatics in archaeology High tech for old digs
As mentioned above, each of these capabilities alone is useful, but our ability to fully integrate these in the overall Geomatics context creates a powerful synergy effect. We can now use satellite imagery, digital aerial photography, and historic and modern maps to search for new sites. We then locate these on the ground using GPS, and determine which are most promising (or, frequently, most endangered) using geophysical techniques. We can then excavate sites using close range photogrammetry and laser theodolites, and incorporate all relevant data about the site into a regional GIS database for analysis, creating various models, and testing our hypotheses. We can become more efficient with our limited time and resources, and can do a better job of presenting our results to our colleagues, the public, and decision-makers that control the fate of these resources. The cost of all of this is a constant problem, as archaeologists rarely have access to sufficient resources.
These activities are not only for academic interests. Many governmental entities around the world are realizing the importance of cultural resource management and historic preservation for tourism and for their intrinsic cultural value. Regional archaeological predictive models are now being routinely used in Europe, North America and elsewhere to ensure that major new road projects and similar major land alterations are designed to minimize their impact on cultural resources while still providing essential services and new economic development. Our cultural resources are a vital link to our common human heritage, and they deserve to be respected and protected. The knowledge we gain from archaeology is enhanced by Geomatics technologies, and a better understanding of our past, present, and future will come from the integration of the knowledge of our past and the digital future of Geomatics.
Some Useful References
- Allen K.M.S., Green S.W. & Zubrow E.B.W. (1990) Interpreting space: GIS and archaeology. Taylor & Francis.
- Beck (2003) Satellite Applications and Landscape Archaeology: A Case Study in the Homs region of Syria. Paper presented at the workshop on the Contribution of Remote Sensing to the Management of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites. Beruit, Lebanon, 15-17 Dec. 2003
- Dalla Bona, Luke (1994) "Volume 3: Methodological Considerations" A Report Prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Lakehead University: Center for Archaeological Resource Prediction, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
- Dual (1969) Flights into Yesterday: The story of Aerial Archaeology, St. Martins Press, New York.
- El-Baz F. (1997). Space Age Archaeology. Scientific American 277 (2), 40-45.
- Farley J.A., Limp W.F. & Lockhart J. (1990). The archaeologist's workbench: integrating remote sensing, EDA and database in Allen K.M.S., Green S.W. & Zubrow E.B.W., Interpreting space: GIS and archaeology. Taylor and Francis. 141-164.
- Fowler M.J.F. (1996). High-resolution satellite imagery in archaeological application: a Russian satellite photograph of the Stonehenge region. Antiquity 269, 667-671.
- Gaffney V. & Stancic Z. (1991). GIS approaches to regional analysis: A case study of the island of Hvar.
- McCauley J.F., et al. (1986). Palaeodrainages of the Eastern Sahara - The radar rivers revisited (SIR-A/B implications for a Mid-Tertiary Trans-African Drainage System). IEEE Trans Geoscience & Remote Sensing GE-24, 624-648.
- McHugh W.P., Breed C.S., Schaber G.G., McCauley J.F. & Szabo B.J. (1988). Acheulian sites along the "Radar rivers", southern Egyptian Sahara. J. Field Arch. 15, 361-379.
- Madry, S. (1987) A Multiscalar Approach to Remote Sensing. Regional Dynamics: Burgundian Landscapes in Historical Prespective. C. Crumley and W. Markwardt, Eds. Academic Press.
- Madry S. & Crumley C. (1990). An application of remote sensing and GIS in a regional archaeological settlement pattern analysis: the Arroux River valley, Burgundy, France. in Allen K.M.S., Green S.W. & Zubrow E.B.W. (Eds), Interpreting space: GIS and archaeology. Taylor & Francis. 364-380.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
