Abstract
We show that high-resolution space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery with pixel sizes smaller than 1 m2 can be used to complement archaeological surveys on intertidal flats. After major storm surges in the 14th and 17th centuries (“Grote Mandrenke”), vast areas on the German North Sea coast were lost to the sea. Areas of settlements and historical farmland were buried under sediments for centuries, but when the surface layer is driven away under the action of wind, currents, and waves, they appear again on the Wadden Sea surface. However, frequent flooding and erosion of the intertidal flats make any archaeological monitoring a difficult task, so that remote sensing techniques appear to be an efficient and cost-effective instrument for any archaeological surveillance of that area. Space-borne SAR images clearly show remains of farmhouse foundations and of former systems of ditches, dating back to the times before the “Grote Mandrenke”. In particular, the very high-resolution acquisition (“staring spotlight”) mode of the TerraSAR/TanDEM-X satellites allows detecting various kinds of remains of historical land use at high precision. Moreover, SARs working at lower microwave frequencies (e.g., that on Radarsat-2) may complement archaeological surveys of historical cultural traces, some of which have been unknown so far.
Highlights
In the Medieval Period, the German North Sea coastline looked very different from how it looks today: the North Frisian Islands did not yet exist, but were part of the so-called “Uthlande” that belonged to, or were connected with, the mainland [1]
In order to complement those studies, here, we introduce a here, we introduce a new domain for synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-driven archaeology
Analyzing the high-resolution SAR imagery we found at several places fine linear structures, which are clearly anthropogenic
Summary
In the Medieval Period, the German North Sea coastline looked very different from how it looks today: the North Frisian Islands did not yet exist, but were part of the so-called “Uthlande” (outer lands) that belonged to, or were connected with, the mainland [1]. From the 11th and 12th centuries on, many settlements on the German North Sea coast appeared In those settlements houses were often built on dwelling mounds and were protected by small “summer dikes”, which could provide protection against high water only during summer, when storms are rare. An immense storm tide flooded the coast, causing the small dikes to break at many places and killing a great number of people and cattle. Flood or “Grote (“great drowning men”) and causedand thatcaused vast areas lost towere the sea. Another major storm surge occurred on 11 October 1634, again, causing death of people and Another major storm onplaces
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