Abstract
Due to its conflict-ridden recent history, it has been difficult to launch major archaeological projects and advanced field research in Afghanistan during the last forty years. Lately, the proliferation of remote sensing methods, especially the increasing availability of satellite imagery, has allowed generating a much-needed impetus for documentation and monitoring of the heritage in Afghanistan. In this study, we present novel site data obtained through an examination of publicly available satellite imagery in the southwestern region of Kandahar. The sites presented here consist of a multitude of cultural heritage such as settlement mounds, architectural remains, religious monuments, fortresses, and traditional water management systems. We also discuss the advantages, as well as the drawbacks of remote sensing surveys for archaeological research in Afghanistan, and share our data to be employed in further research and cultural heritage management in the region.
Highlights
Afghanistan has been in a constant state of war during the last four decades
There are several online sources which provide satellite imagery with local or global coverage. The data from these sources are usually provided as individual tiles that can be downloaded, or in the form of a Web-map service (WMS) that can be accessed, or
The terrain models and elevation data used in the study are based on Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data and irrigated land data is provided by the United Nations Environment Program
Summary
Afghanistan has been in a constant state of war during the last four decades. After the beginning of the Civil War in 1978, the conflict in Afghanistan has evolved in many directions, becoming ever increasingly complex. The plight of war that befell civilian populations, though, remains unchanged. An unprecedented attack on Afghanistan’s cultural heritage has unfolded in broad daylight, sometimes even on live TV. While high-profile attacks, such as the notorious case of the Bamiyan Buddha [1], have captured the attention of the international community, the true size and scale of the war-related damage, as well as the effects of sustained looting of cultural heritage are still under assessment [2,3,4,5,6]
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