Archaeological Field Survey Research Articles

Multi-temporal images and 3D dense models for archaeological site monitoring in Hierapolis of Phrygia (TK)

The archaeological areas are one of the fields in which the contribution of Geomatics techniques for Heritage documentation were employed since long time and are now getting popular. In recent times, TLS and RPAS systems become more and more interesting to be studied in excavations sites for monitoring purposes and solving large scale and comprehensive mapping matters both from terrestrial and aerial point of view. The paper will focuses on these issue and on the great challenge of monitoring sites during time, integrating and conforming multiple data coming from previous metric survey projects or image data collected in the past for different purposes. The test-sites is the complex archaeological landscape of the ancient city of Hierapolis in Phrygia on which the MAIER – Italian Archaeological Mission of Hierapolis operates from the 60s of the 20 th century and where Politecnico di Torino conducted several documentation survey campaigns. Some case studies in Hierapolis monumental areas about 3D modelling from image and range data represent nowadays an interesting attempt to answer these tasks. In particular, the presented cases involve many multi-temporal datasets that have been acquired by different university staffs in subsequent campaigns, in 1997, 2007, 2012, 2015, by employing various sensors following the evolution of the acquisition techniques offers by geomatics in the archaeological field surveys. 3D models are generated by terrestrial LiDAR and by terrestrial and aerial photogrammetric surveys; these dense models are intended to be compared and integrated with newer models generated by the UAV systems employed in last 2015 mission. In the Sacred Area of the Apollo Temple, two different datasets allow to perform investigation and comparisons before and after archaeological accommodation of the sepulchre of Apollo. The 3D model was created from images captured by a curbed balloon and further by another particular nadir point of view (a man harnessed and suspended from a crane collected photos using a Rollei semi-metric film camera); an UAV flight was performed lastly in 2015 by a EBee fix wing drone. On the other hand, in the massive complex of the Bath-Church the deeply damaged East wall was kept under observation during years until the securing intervention with a castle of tubes has been achieved: till that moment the pipes structure masks almost completely the wall, even during the last Lidar survey performed in 2012. The integration with previous images datasets collected before the securing intervention and used to generate a 3D model, want to overcome this limitation in a multi-temporal integration. In such perspective, 3D data derived from digital acquisition and modelling constantly contribute to build a knowledge on the site and help to improve their communication. Furthermore the combination of digital models and direct observations of the excavations results can improve the enhancement of the dissemination aims.

Preparing an archaeological field survey: Remote sensing interpretation for herding structures in the Southern Levant

Development of archaeological “virtual surveys” using online satellite imagery allows the identification of an increasing number and diversity of data. Coherent procedures are now essential in the preparation of any field study: estimating archaeological potential, gathering and mapping environmental features, and building hypotheses about settlement location and settlement patterns. In this article, we propose methods aimed at developing tools to describe and measure the different elements of pastoral archaeological structures in southern Syria, and quantifying the importance of these structures in the landscape and natural environment. Our thematic case study is the pastoral settlement pattern in the Leja, a basaltic region in southern Syria.

Natural science methods in field archaeology, with the case study of Crimea

The natural science methods applied in archaeological field survey are briefly reviewed. They are classified into several groups: remote sensing (analysis of space and airspace photographs, viewshed analysis, study of detailed topographic and special maps, and three-dimensional photogrammetry), geophysical survey, and analysis of cultural layer elements (by geochemical, paleosol, and other methods). The most important principle is the integration of complementary nondestructive and fast natural science methods in order to obtain the most complete and reliable results. Emphasis is placed on the consideration of geophysical methods of the study, primarily, magnetic exploration. A multidisciplinary study of the monuments of ancient Chersonesos and its “barbarian” environment is described as an example of successful application of a complex technique.

Posterior Probability Modeling and Image Classification for Archaeological Site Prospection: Building a Survey Efficacy Model for Identifying Neolithic Felsite Workshops in the Shetland Islands

The application of custom classification techniques and posterior probability modeling (PPM) using Worldview-2 multispectral imagery to archaeological field survey is presented in this paper. Research is focused on the identification of Neolithic felsite stone tool workshops in the North Mavine region of the Shetland Islands in Northern Scotland. Sample data from known workshops surveyed using differential GPS are used alongside known non-sites to train a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classifier based on a combination of datasets including Worldview-2 bands, band difference ratios (BDR) and topographical derivatives. Principal components analysis is further used to test and reduce dimensionality caused by redundant datasets. Probability models were generated by LDA using principal components and tested with sites identified through geological field survey. Testing shows the prospective ability of this technique and significance between 0.05 and 0.01, and gain statistics between 0.90 and 0.94, higher than those obtained using maximum likelihood and random forest classifiers. Results suggest that this approach is best suited to relatively homogenous site types, and performs better with correlated data sources. Finally, by combining posterior probability models and least-cost analysis, a survey least-cost efficacy model is generated showing the utility of such approaches to archaeological field survey.

Mapping the Stone Age of Mozambique

Under the auspices of the Portuguese colonial government, Lereno Barradas and Santos Junior (coordinator of the Anthropological Mission of Mozambique) carried out several archaeological field surveys from 1936 to 1956 that resulted in a data set that includes a total of close to 90 sites, mostly attributed to the Stone Age. This early research added to the previous work of Van Riet Lowe in the Limpopo Valley of southern Mozambique. With the new millennium, Mozambique has emerged as a crucial geographic area in which to understand the various hypotheses about recent human evolution. Specifically, its coastal location between southern and eastern Africa is ideal for testing ideas about the link between early coastal adaptations and the appearance of anatomically modern humans (AMH). Except for the recent work by Mercader’s team in northern Mozambique, the number of researchers and projects on this topic in Mozambique is still limited because of the general predominance of interest in later periods among archaeologists working in the country, mainly due to their focus on issues related to precolonial heritage and national identity. Based on the early maps from Santos Junior and more recent data acquired through various projects, we present a series of maps for the Stone Age prehistory of Mozambique. The maps are also based on a critical evaluation of the sites and a review of some of the materials that are presently curated at the Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica e Tropical (IICT) in Lisbon, Portugal, as well as the materials stored at the Department of Archaeology of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo. The sites are also presented in an online database with the information on all sites used in this study. This database is open to all and will be updated continuously. A preliminary interpretation of the regional distribution of the sites is also attempted, linking aspects that include region, topography and altitude, geomorphology, and cultural phase. These results will be the first step for research and knowledge in Mozambique on Stone Age prehistory and the emergence and settlement pattern of AMH.

Nuancer et améliorer l’analyse des systèmes de peuplement basée sur les données de prospections pédestres: l’étude de la dynamique d’occupation antique du Plateau lorrain

Research on settlement dynamics is mainly based on data from archaeological field survey. This exploration method gives access to a large amount of information that enables to identify distribution tendencies and to establish a model of evolution of the settlement structure at different scales. Nonetheless, field survey data, even if chronologically dated, provide a partial record and a snapshot of the settlements. This static information lacks a certain number of parameters, which are essential to perceive the inherent evolution of the settlements and therefore to visualize it within the dynamics of the settlement trajectory networks. On the other hand, data from archaeological excavations enables to detect those phenomena. This paper proposes a methodological approach to use information collected during excavations in order to qualify and reinforce the analysis of the dynamics that rely on elements from field survey. While studying the dynamics of the settlement system during Antiquity in the Plateau lorrain (France), the use of evolving data from excavations offers solutions which balance and improve the static approach stemming from field survey data.

Characterization and supply of raw materials in the Neanderthal groups of Prado Vargas Cave (Cornejo, Burgos, Spain)

Abstract A systematic archaeological field survey has been undertaken in the area around Prado Vargas Cave (Cornejo, Burgos, Spain), which shows evidence of human occupation in the Middle Paleolithic. The aim of the study is to locate outcrops of raw materials which could have been used for the fabrication of tools by these Neanderthal groups. An archeological field survey of 46.6 km 2 in 94 different locations was undertaken, in which flint and other materials of archaeological and ethnographic interest were recovered. Different analytic techniques were employed (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy [FTIR], X-Ray Diffraction [XRD], and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry [ICP-MS]) with the aim of typifying the lithic materials found in ten selected samples of flint on primary position in limestone and ten samples selected from flint on secondary position in clay. We have also undertaken the analysis of nine samples of archaeological flakes derived from the cave excavations. The flint samples were typified and the results of the data from the FTIR, XRD and ICP-MS were interpreted taking into account the similarity between samples of natural and archaeological origin, and the localization of possible areas of gathering of the lithic resources.

The impact of the roman agriculture on the territory of Savaria

The first reconstruction of the centuriatio of Savaria was attempted by András Mócsy, who tried to draw itwith the utilization of mid-scale topographical maps. Since his publication there were no archaeological at-tempt in the last 40 years to prove his theory. In the last recent years we tried to continue the survey of theSavarian centuriatio’s existence with support of GIS methods. Fortunately, an interesting relationship wasnoted between the informations of some archaeological excavations and the aerial archaeological phenom-ena, thus, we were able to build a predictive model-network of the assumed centuriatio. The new grid totallydiffers from the previous reconstruction. The predictive model’s agglomeration of the assumed centuriatio-traces could be refined, and the refined model was controlled with the use of archaeological field survey andgeophysical survey as well. The new reconstruction resulted new opportunities in the interpretation of exca-vated sites or former known roman roads and aqueducts, discovered in the last decades. An other interestingrelationship could be found between the water courses that ran on the former territory of the colonia andthe roman field boundary system: the probable impact of the roman agriculture on the landscape that af-fected the “premodern” (prior to the modern stream regulations) watercourse system.

A new archaeological field survey of the site of Nan Madol, Pohnpei

To archaeologists, ancient capitals are ideal places to learn more about how a region’s societies developed. In Polynesia, we find that administrative centers, such as Lapaha in Tonga (Clark et al. 2008; Hommon 2013) and the royal centers of the Hawaiian Islands (Kirch 2010), reflect the rise of archaic states. In Melanesia, when new colonial centers were built in the 19th century, traditional Fijian notions of chiefly power were explicitly incorporated in the architectural design to adapt to the local political scene (Chatan 2003). In Micronesia, one site stands out among others: Nan Madol on Pohnpei. Nan Madol, sometimes called the ‘Venice of the Pacific,’ is a mortuary and administrative site made up of artificial islets built over 83 hectares of lagoon (Figure 1). These islets were constructed using distinctive columnar basalt, boulders, and an impressive amount of coral rubble fill, and they appear to have inspired the construction of the site of Lelu on Kosrae (Ayres 1993:69). Our primary tool for studying large and complex archaeological sites, the ‘white paper’ field map, is today joined by a host of other spatial technologies – GPS, GIS, laser scanning, remote sensing, and so on (McCoy & Ladefoged 2009). While traditional survey remains at the heart of field archaeology, when it comes to sites like Nan Madol, it is time that digital spatial datasets start to add to the years of traditional survey work that has already been published. The lack of published digital data has consequences. Over the past several years, efforts to place Nan Madol on the Nan Madol, sometimes called the ‘Venice of the Pacific,’ is a mortuary and administrative site built from columnar basalt, boulders, and coral. It is made up of artificial islets that stretch over 83 hectares of lagoon on the volcanic high island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia and is pivotal to our understanding of ancient Pohnpeian society. Nan Madol was first mapped in its entirety in 1910 by the German explorer Paul Hambruch and in the century since then the site has been re-surveyed and maps of varying levels of detail have been published. Here we report on the first full coverage field survey of the site’s artificial islets employing high precision GPS. The survey dataset has been made available for download as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) layer at the data clearinghouse website: The Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR). We also report a matching annotated list of variant place names used in the literature and some brief information on the function of islets from oral traditions. This report, the digital map, and the annotated list of islets are aimed to provide future researchers with a baseline database. Nan Madol, a veces llamada “La Venecia del Pacifico”, es un sitio mortuorio y administrativo construido a partir de un basalto columnar, rocas y coral. Esta compuesto de islotes artificiales que se extienden a lo largo de 83 hectareas de laguna en la isla volcanica de Pohnpei, en los Estados Federados de Micronesia y es esencial para nuestro entendimiento de la antigua sociedad pohnpeiana. Nan Madol fue cartografiada en su totalidad por primera vez en 1910 por el explorador aleman Paul Hambruch, a partir de aqui y a lo largo del siglo el lugar ha sido estudiado de nuevo y se han publicado mapas con variedad de detalles. Aqui llevamos a cabo un primer y completo estudio de cobertura total de las islas artificiales del sitio, empleando GPS de alta precision. El conjunto de datos esta disponible para descarga a traves del GIS (Sistema de Informacion Geografica) en el sitio web de centro de intercambio de datos: The Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR). Tambien informamos una lista comparativa anotada de variantes de nombres de lugares utilizados en la literatura y una breve informacion de la funcion de los islotes en las tradiciones orales. Este informe, el mapa digital y la lista anotada de islotes estan dirigidos a proporcionar una base de datos en linea a los futuros investigadores.

Rural sites in Roman Greece

[W]hile pretending to throw some light upon classical authors by careful observation of the manners of the present day, romantic travellers succeeded in fact in accommodating reality to their dreams … by creating for themselves and for their readers carefully edited portraits of modern Greece that transformed the present into the living image of the past (Saïd 2005: 291).Thirty years ago archaeological field survey promised to reshape radically our understanding of the countryside (Keller and Rupp 1983: 1–5). Traditional archaeological approaches to cities and monuments were increasingly seen to be extensions of textual research, and research on the rural landscape was envisaged as a way to access the other side of the traditional urban-rural dichotomy (though see the comments in Alcock 2007: 671–72). Some scholars estimated that, in the Classical period, the vast majority of Greek poleis had populations of less than 3,000 and territories no more than a few hours” walk from the urban core. Given that, they asked, does it make sense to divide elements of Greek life into “city” and “country”? In a sense, the study of landscapes was seen as a way to redress perceived imbalances between this urban-rural division and the picture painted by the ancient sources of Roman Greece as a pale reflection of its Classical brilliance. In the years since, landscape studies have grown to include much more than archaeological field survey, but this tension between textual and archaeological narratives remains at the heart of understandings of rural Roman Greece.

Evaluating the Quality and Accuracy of TanDEM-X Digital Elevation Models at Archaeological Sites in the Cilician Plain, Turkey

Satellite remote sensing provides a powerful instrument for mapping and monitoring traces of historical settlements and infrastructure, not only in distant areas and crisis regions. It helps archaeologists to embed their findings from field surveys into the broader context of the landscape. With the start of the TanDEM-X mission, spatially explicit 3D-information is available to researchers at an unprecedented resolution worldwide. We examined different experimental TanDEM-X digital elevation models (DEM) that were processed from two different imaging modes (Stripmap/High Resolution Spotlight) using the operational alternating bistatic acquisition mode. The quality and accuracy of the experimental DEM products was compared to other available DEM products and a high precision archaeological field survey. The results indicate the potential of TanDEM-X Stripmap (SM) data for mapping surface elements at regional scale. For the alluvial plain of Cilicia, a suspected palaeochannel could be reconstructed. At the local scale, DEM products from TanDEM-X High Resolution Spotlight (HS) mode were processed at 2 m spatial resolution using a merge of two monostatic/bistatic interferograms. The absolute and relative vertical accuracy of the outcome meet the specification of high resolution elevation data (HRE) standards from the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) at the HRE20 level.

Medieval and Ottoman period (14th–17th c.) Archaeology in the Drava River region, Hungary

The paper is a short summary of the main archaeological outcomes of an interdisciplinary project in a section of the Drava river crossing the territory of Somogy county, in Hungary. One of the study areas is the vicinity of Berzence where medieval settlement patterns, land use and economy have been reconstructed on the basis of historical sources and an archaeological field survey. A comprehensive review of architectural history and material culture of the Ottoman Period stronghold in Barcs was the other area under investigation. Research there was based on written sources and the archaeological assemblage recovered from the palisaded fort. Zooarchaeological research at this site revealed some significant culture historical aspects of this stronghold. Underwater archaeological investigations carried out in the Drava river itself and aerial exploration of the study areas also supplied valuable archaeological results.

Determining the settlement history of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine sites in the Galilee, Israel: Comparing surface, subsurface, and stratified artifact assemblages

Archaeological field survey is the basic method for determining the history of settlement on the regional level. The backbone of survey is locating and surveying individual sites, estimating their size, and uncovering their settlement histories. Various biases place doubt on the reliability of surface data and the conclusions drawn from them. This study presents three methods for investigating multiperiod sites in eastern Galilee, Israel: advanced surface survey, shovel test sampling, and large-scale stratigraphic excavations. Advanced surface survey was carried out at 46 sites settled during the Hellenistic through Byzantine periods (ca. 300 b.c.–a.d. 650). Three of these sites were later sampled using shovel test pits. Large-scale excavations were conducted at two of these sites, Khirbet Wadi Ḥamam and Nasr ed-Din enabling the comparison of the three methods. Applying these three methods to the same sites allowed us to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each method for determining settlement history. The results indicate that a thorough surface survey of a site in an area where local pottery is well documented can provide a clear picture of its occupation history. However, these data are not sufficient to determine variations in the size of the site over time. Shovel test sampling presents no advantage over surface survey with regard to documenting periods of activity at a given site, but it is preferable for tracing changes in the intensity of occupation during different periods. Excavation is the most informative method, but because it is costly and time consuming, it often sheds light only on small portions of selected sites.

Going Big

AbstractIn 2008, the Carlsbad Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) made a fundamental change in how they work with the energy industry in the Permian Basin of southeastern New Mexico, one of the nation's busiest “oil patches.” Through a collaborative effort that involved the Bureau of Land Management, the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Officer, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Mescalero Apache Tribe, and industry representatives, they developed and implemented the Permian Basin Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). This agreement allows energy development proponents to contribute funds to archaeological research in lieu of spending an equivalent amount of money on traditional archaeological field survey. The mitigation program governs how BLM addresses long-term damage and cumulative impacts to archaeological resources as new development proceeds in the Permian Basin MOA area. Now in its fifth year, the program has succeeded in key ways: industry has gained control over schedules and time, while archaeologists have gained control over where and how they do archaeology. Key lessons have been learned along the way: The funding mechanisms of the program work well, but doing archaeology through a collaborative working group takes a lot of time and energy.

The 3-D reconstruction of medieval wetland reclamation through electromagnetic induction survey

Studies of past human-landscape interactions rely upon the integration of archaeological, biological and geological information within their geographical context. However, detecting the often ephemeral traces of human activities at a landscape scale remains difficult with conventional archaeological field survey. Geophysical methods offer a solution by bridging the gap between point finds and the surrounding landscape, but these surveys often solely target archaeological features. Here we show how simultaneous mapping of multiple physical soil properties with a high resolution multi-receiver electromagnetic induction (EMI) survey permits a reconstruction of the three-dimensional layout and pedological setting of a medieval reclaimed landscape in Flanders (Belgium). Combined with limited and directed excavations, the results offer a unique insight into the way such marginal landscapes were reclaimed and occupied during the Middle Ages. This approach provides a robust foundation for unravelling complex historical landscapes and will enhance our understanding of past human-landscape interactions.

Julijus Dioringas – XIX amžiaus Šiaurės Lietuvos tyrėjas

Julijus Dioringas – XIX amžiaus Šiaurės Lietuvos tyrėjas

An Off-Site Approach to Late Iron Age and Roman Landscapes on the Northern Plateau, Spain

Since 2009, a large-scale archaeological field survey – the Ager Segisamonensis Survey Project – has been carried out on the Northern Plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, in the Burgos province (Castilla y León), Spain. The aim of this project is to understand the Iron Age/Roman transition in terms of settlement strategies and landscape exploitation. The field survey has been undertaken in the landscape surrounding an Iron Age settlement and the successive Roman city of Segisamo – modern Sasamón. The goal is not the discovery of new settlements, but the recognition of the so-called ‘dwelling landscape’ and its evolution. In this article, we highlight our field survey methodology based on hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) instruments and the creation of a recording system of ‘aggregation units'.

Commonplace Activities: Walmgate Stray, an Urban Common in York

This paper describes Walmgate Stray, one of four large commons that provided summer grazing for the freemen of York’s four wards. Two once-separate pieces of land now make up Walmgate Stray. One, Low Moor, has probably been common pasture since before the Norman Conquest; the second was appended to the ancient common in 1828, having previously been privately-owned arable land. Using the results of archaeological field survey and supporting archival research, as well as the recollections of local residents, this paper identifies the wide range of uses to which this common land has been put since the middle ages. It elucidates, on the one hand, how the exploitation of this important resource by the nearby city and its suburbs is evidenced archaeologically and, on the other hand, how specific activities on the common have interacted at a very local scale. In many cases, evidence of activities survives as earthworks, including a sand or gravel pit, medieval and post-medieval ridge and furrow, First and Second World War army training features and traces of an inter-War ornamental planting scheme. Physical evidence for the primary use of the common – the pasturing of livestock – is relatively sparse and easy to overlook, apart from the existence of the grassland itself, but there are a few tell-tale signs including three artificial ponds, now dry, and a Grade II-listed lodge of c.1835 once known as Herdsman’s Cottage. Individually, all these remains are mainly of local importance, but collectively they allow a nuanced case study, with broader applicability for the development, use and heritage value of urban commons.

Spatial distribution of Paleolithic sites in Bose Basin, Guangxi, China

The Paleolithic stone tool industry from the Bose Basin (Guangxi, China) is best known for the presence of Acheulean-like bifacially and unifacially-worked handaxes found in the same horizon with tektites dated to 803,000 BP. One point that is often not included in discussion of the Bose lithics is the variability in the distribution of sites and artifacts across the basin. This paper reports the results of an analysis of the spatial distribution of the lithics and sites in the Bose Basin based on a multidisciplinary approach utilizing geomorphological observations, Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing, and computer graphics. Analyses include data collected during a comprehensive systematic archaeological field survey conducted in the basin between 2009 and 2010. The results indicate that the density of sites and stone artifacts per site decrease when moving from the northwest to the southeast. Perhaps the most interesting finding is that the handaxes are concentrated in only certain areas of the basin, a pattern similar to the typical western Old World Acheulean, rather than the Oldowan, where the artifact types appear to be more evenly distributed.

LESLIE DOSSEYPeasants and Empire in Christian North Africa. (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage, number 47.) Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 2010. Pp. xvii, 352. $60.00

The spread of ideas and of goods has remarkable potential to transform structures of social power. Leslie Dossey's important new study is a compelling exploration of that process in late Roman Africa (roughly the territory of modern Tunisia, Algeria, and western Libya). Her book specifically seeks to understand why the African provincial elite suddenly become anxious about peasant rebellion in the fourth century a.d., at a time when actual rural violence was both rare and easily suppressed. Dossey proposes that, in comparison to the classical period, late antiquity witnessed “a greater resemblance between rural and urban populations, both in terms of material culture and religious ideology” (p. 7), and that this “resemblance could heighten, not mollify, social tensions” (p. 8). Dossey draws both on archaeological field surveys and on a wide array of written sources. Indeed, to specialists one of the most exciting aspects of her work is sure to be her examination of over four hundred anonymous Christian sermons and other texts that have never been extensively exploited by historians but whose scriptural tradition or transmission history strongly suggests that they were composed in Africa between the fourth and sixth centuries.