Archaeological Heritage Management Research Articles

Accuracy assessment of UAV-based documentation of archaeological site: Kültepe-Kaneš

High quality 2D/3D metric documentation of archaeological sites is used in many different applications such as archaeological-heritage management, digital archaeological excavation planning, orthophotographic documentation, and ancient Digital Surfaces Models (DSM) research. Structure-from-Motion based photogrammetry (SfM) is an indirect geodesic measurement technique based on multiple view image processing using high-level automation techniques. Using SfM to generate the high accuracy 2D/3D data needed for digital documentation of archaeological cultural heritage is relatively practical, economical, and fast. Factors such as the number of ground control points and their distribution to the study area, the robustness of the camera system model parameters, and the analytical model of the photogrammetric triangulation method used affect the accuracy of the data produced using SfM-photogrammetry. Kültepe-Kaneš, the center of the ancient Kingdom of Kaneš, which is located in central-Anatolia, was an Assyrian Trade Colony active between ca. 2000 BC and 1700 BC. The site, which was the center of the Old Assyrian trade colonies in Anatolia and one of the most important sites in ancient history, has been under excavation for the last 75 years. In this paper, high accuracy digital documentation of the Kültepe-Kaneš archaeological excavation area was made using different SfM methods. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in accuracy between Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) and Post-Process Kinematic (PPK) methods for the study area. This suggests that either PPK, RTK, or aerial triangulation with Ground Control Points (GCPs) can be employed to generate orthophotos and DSMs for archaeological sites with relatively flat surface areas, as long as a sufficient number of uniformly distributed GCPs are used.

Climate change and the taphonomic signature of Neolithic mounds: the Kur River Basin over five decades of satellite imagery coverage

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the impact of modern land use and climate change on mounded prehistoric sites, considering the evidence from Kur River Basin (southwestern Iran). By applying remote sensing and GIS techniques to historical and recent satellite imagery, we monitored an assemblage of 45 Neolithic mounds in order to map and quantify their taphonomic signatures over the last 53 years. Our results highlight that the deterioration of sites occurred as a result of landscape transformation due to land use and socio-economic dynamics that were exacerbated by current climate change. Increasing demands for fertile land and water led to the over-exploitation of sources, resulting in changing hydrological regimes and ecological systems and loss of the archaeological record. By contextualizing these processes over a historical perspective, our findings contribute to archaeological heritage management efforts.

Sustainable Cultural Preservation in Central Asia – Involving Local Communities as Caretakers of Archaeological Sites

ABSTRACT This article presents cultural conservation projects in Iran and Iraq, in each of which the social context of the archaeological site and the collection were also considered, in order to develop long-term conservation planning. The objective of one project is to improve the water supply for the local village population near an ancient salt mine in Iran in order to retain them as stewards of the archaeological site. Another project shows how digital media and different narrative perspectives are intended to appeal to different target groups in Iran and worldwide to raise awareness of the so-called salt mummies recovered from the ancient salt mine. International experts are also addressed via online formats to discuss the challenges of the ethical handling of human remains for conservation and exhibition. In Kurdistan (Iraq), young archaeology students are introduced to the topics of archaeological heritage management in order to recruit them as future caretakers. What all projects have in common is that relationships and cross-sector networks are being established to build a crisis-proof local community that takes care of its cultural heritage. In this way, projects can be implemented that are primarily carried out by local actors, thereby building up expertise that will endure. These projects are the initial attempts to link cultural preservation and social well-being and thus to make a contribution to sustainable development in line with the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Looking Up for prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes in Europe

This paper introduces Looking Up, an intradisciplinary project combining archaeology and geological perspectives to contribute to the management of hunter-gatherer archaeological heritage in mountain landscapes, with a case study based in the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland. Looking Up, which ran from 2021–2023, used a combination of original archaeological research – especially the development of predictive models of the location of areas of high archaeological potential – and new geological models which provided new information on the timing of deglaciation and numerical models of palaeo-glaciers. This was combined with extensive stakeholder and public engagement to develop best practice guidelines on the management of hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes.

Against Conservation: Towards a New Model of Archaeological Heritage Management in Chinchero

ABSTRACT In the Peruvian Highland town of Chinchero, mainstream heritage conservation policies have proven to be at odds with vernacular practices of land management and uses of the material past. The temporal regimes involved in the strict conservation paradigm collide with local understandings of time and history, rooted in a dynamic tradition based on principles of alternation and circulation, and with a utilitarian approach towards ancient physical remains. The consequences of current archaeological management have turned the Inca ruins into a highly regulated space from which community members have been largely dispossessed. This goes against the legal consideration of the site as a cultural landscape. In order to remedy the temporal and spatial disjunctions derived from mainstream archaeological policy at the site, a new model, inspired in traditional landscape practices, local ideas of time, and movement patterns is proposed as a critical counternarrative to a global hegemonic conservation paradigm. For this purpose, two specific practices come into scrutiny where Andean temporalities as forms of knowledge are embedded. One is Muyuy, a long-standing principle of socioeconomic organization by which communal land is periodically rotated and worked. The other one is Linderaje, or the ancient custom of walking around community boundaries while honoring the milestones identified with the ancestors. Both are proposed as a solution to current conservation dilemmas in town.

New Challenges: Archaeological heritage management and the archaeology of the 18th to 20th centuries. Foreword

In many places across Europe, it has long been common practice to protect, preserve and research monuments of the recent past. The many ways to approach archaeologies of the near present and recent past creates both a challenge and an opportunity for archaeological heritage management, and were considered in a number of papers from the 2023 EAC symposium and are now published here.

Archaeological Heritage Management and Science on War and Terror Sites in Brandenburg, Germany

The Brandenburg State Archaeology Museum has been conserving and analysing relics of war and terror for 25 years, and as a result of this work archaeology is now an integral part of Nazi camp research (Kersting et al. 2016a; Theune 2018). Many camp sites have been investigated, including concentration camps and their subcamps, forced labour camps, and prisoner-of-war camps (Kersting 2020; 2022). While most objects of an industrial culture of the 20th century can be quickly assigned a function, functions do change. Such a shift is a characteristic of Nazi camp finds and reflects their context of bondage and deprivation. The identification of the functions of material remains enables their association with different spheres of life in the camp, so that both perpetrator and victim groups are documented archaeologically. Moreover, these finds serve as tangible evidence to refute any relativisation of the crimes.

Archaeology of Modern Conflict and Heritage Legislation in Lithuania during Thirty Years of Restored Independence

After the Lithuanian National Revival in 1988 and the restoration of independence in 1990, the public on their own initiative searched for the remains of fallen anti-Soviet Lithuanian partisans (1944-1953), excavating the burial sites of partisan remains, their bunkers and dugouts. Such excavations prompted the need to establish regulations and procedures for the exhumation and transfer of the remains of victims of 20th-century conflicts and occupation regimes. Government resolutions adopted in 1992 obliged prosecutors, archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic medical experts to be involved in the exhumation procedure and to carry out the exhumation in accordance with the basic requirements of archaeological research. Owing to the restoration and destruction of authentic partisan bunkers and dugouts, the increase in archaeological investigations at 20th-century conflict sites, as well as the emergence of a distinct field of modern conflict archaeology, the 2022 revision of the Archaeological Heritage Management Regulation stipulated the necessity to carry out archaeological research prior to any excavation works at all 19th- and 20th-century conflict sites. Between 1995 and 2022, a total of 171 permits for archaeological excavations at 20th-century conflict sites were issued. Investigations were mostly carried out at the burial sites of Wehrmacht and Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) soldiers of the Second World War and Lithuanian partisans. Partisan bunkers, dugouts, campsites, battlefields also received considerable attention. Today, more than 1700 20th-century conflict sites have legal protection in Lithuania. These include Lithuanian Partisan War sites (mainly sites of death and burial), burial sites of soldiers from the First and Second World Wars, sites of massacres and burials of Jews, and other sites associated with the Soviet and Nazi occupation regimes. This article focuses on 20th-century conflict sites in Lithuania, examining issues of their protection, heritage conservation and archaeology, as well as current trends in archaeological research methodology.

Managing Contemporary Archaeology in the Mediterranean: Challenges Observed from #pubarchMED

Contemporary archaeology was one of the topics addressed within a large study to improve understanding of archaeological heritage management in the Mediterranean basin by the pubarchMED project. While 19th and early 20th century contexts are often studied, contemporary archaeology in the Mediterranean (especially post World War II period) still represents a challenge both for practitioners and heritage managers. This article delves into some structural issues of archaeological heritage management and archaeological practice of the contemporary world, disentangling the main challenges they reveal and the interesting questions they raise for archaeological practice.

Magnetometer mapping of drowned prehistoric landscapes for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Netherlands

AbstractCoastal areas can contain a highly valuable archaeological record because of post‐glacial drowning of previously inhabited land surfaces. Such records are increasingly under threat because of a range of economic activities. Archaeological Heritage Management (AHM) is hampered by a lack of detailed data on the buried landscapes. This makes it difficult to fully assess and deflect threats to this record. Here, we present a novel way of using under water magnetometer surveys to map and characterize buried Mesolithic/Neolithic landforms in high detail. Magnetometer maps from the IJsselmeer area (Netherlands) show patterns of paired linear anomalies that resemble banks or levees that straddle channel‐like features. Sub‐bottom profile transects and sediment core analyses confirm that the observed linear features are Mesolithic and Neolithic submerged buried channel and bank/levee systems that connect to known onshore buried channel systems from that age. Although the origin of the magnetic signal is still subject of study, the observed patterns clearly indicate areas or geomorphological phenomena of high archaeological potential, and make it possible to take measures for protection and research.

Joined up Thinking: Aggregating archaeological datasets at an international scale

The archaeological research community was an early adopter of digital tools for data acquisition, organisation, analysis, and presentation of research results of individual projects. However, the provision of e-infrastructure and services for data sharing, discovery, access, and reuse has lagged behind. The ARIADNE Research Infrastructure has sought to address this situation. Developed with European funding, ARIADNE has created an e-infrastructure that enables data providers to register and provide access to their digital resources through the ARIADNE data portal, facilitating discovery, access, and research. ARIADNE has aggregated resources from over 45 data providers, spanning over 40 countries and 4 continents. The portal now provides online access to over 3.9 million research resources. It is based upon Linked Open Data technologies and is underpinned by a flexible and extensible architecture, enabling multiple combinations and presentations of the same underpinning data. We have been keen not to 'make a great heap' of all the data and, learning from previous data aggregation projects, we have defined a subset of the CIDOC CRM to be used as a strict ontology and paid close attention to data standards and controlled vocabularies to achieve a high degree of interoperability. This article discusses some of the challenges of large-scale data integration and describes the approaches adopted to ensure that the ARIADNE Knowledge Base is an effective tool for archaeological heritage management and research at a national and international level.

The Innovative Growth of Space Archaeology: A Brief Overview of Concepts and Approaches in Detection, Monitoring, and Promotion of the Archaeological Heritage

Space Archaeology (SA), also known as Satellite Archaeology, Satellite Remote Sensing for Archaeology, or Archaeology from Space, is part of the wider interdisciplinary field of Remote Sensing for Archaeology. The application of satellite data in archaeological investigations has proven useful for landscape observation and analysis, the detection of archaeological traces, the reconstruction and monitoring of natural and anthropic processes, and the management and promotion of archaeological heritage. During the last few decades, the increasing number of SA studies has demonstrated innovative growth in archaeological disciplines due to the significant enhancement of spatial technologies, the advancement of visual inspection and image processing techniques, the development of data fusion methodologies, and the improvement of multi-temporal analysis methods. Therefore, a broad overview of the current situation in the concepts and approaches of SA is necessary to gain greater awareness of the current potentialities and limitations of this science to better address future studies. The present work provides a review of the scientific literature by exploring the different aspects of SA and the goals achieved to date in three main application fields: Detection, monitoring, and promotion of archaeological heritage. The contributions reviewed were divided within each of these three categories by analyzing the type of SA data and methods applied. The results indicate that (1) most studies aim to detect archaeological sites compared to monitoring and promotion; (2) optical images are used more than SAR data; and (3) techniques of image enhancement and visual interpretation are applied more than other data processing methods. This brief overview allows us to consider SA as an evolving discipline, an engine for cross-skills training, as well as a promising future science that can play a key role in the frontier of sustainable development and the new space economy.

SITES OF HORODYSHCHA ON THE VILSHANKA RIVER (materials for the archaeological map)

The study of archaeological heritage begins with its accounting and description. The genre of archaeological map appeared at the beginning of the development of archeology as a science. Today, the archaeological map is a complex multifunctional information system. Deployment of the «Archaeological Map» on a national scale requires significant organizational and financial resources. Today, one of the effective ways of advancing in this direction is the creation of archaeological maps of individual microregions.
 The town of Horodyshche in the Cherkasy region still does not have a systematic survey of archaeological monuments. Without such a survey, further archaeological research and protection of known objects are impossible. In the spring of 2022, the authors of the article carried out work on the search and analysis of data on archaeological monuments within the administrative boundaries of the city. The result of this work was the most complete descriptions of archaeological sites. The carried out archival and bibliographic research allows planning the next stages of work on the identification, accounting, protection and research of the city’s archaeological heritage.
 The next step should be the deployment of a separate program of archaeological research. A component of such a program should be a program of field research and promotional activities to spread an ecological attitude to archaeological heritage among local citizens. The primary tasks of the archaeological expedition are the re-examination and documentation of archaeological sites that are under state protection. The location of a part of such objects remains unknown, or their boundaries are not defined. An important work is drawing up the archaeological heritage management program. Among the archaeological sites there are objects that can become part of the cultural space of the city.
 This publication is designed to activate the interest in solving the above-mentioned problems of both professionals and city authorities, as well as citizens who are ready to join this important matter during the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Collaboration and Communication between Hobby Metal Detectorists and Archaeologists in Norway

AbstractIn this article, the ways in which hobby metal detectorists searching for protected objects in the ploughsoil and archaeologists in Norway have collaborated and communicated throughout the public history of metal detecting in the country is outlined and problematized. Due to the opinions of individual archaeologists working in key positions and the autonomy of the country's local and regional management institutions, there are huge variations in both attitudes and practices toward metal detecting and its practitioners. In some areas, metal detectorists are allowed to search more or less freely, whereas in others, entire fields are protected after a few finds, making continued detecting without formal approval from the authorities illegal. Because of this, and the extreme difference in the activity level of individual detectorists, the number of recorded detecting finds varies immensely across county and regional borders. I suggest that channels for collaboration and communication be formalized and that a national and therefore uniform public reporting system be realized—given that it is, for the time being, largely up to individual archaeologists whether some of the country's most active citizen scientists are equally treated by the archaeological heritage management system in Norway.

3D Visualization Techniques for Analysis and Archaeological Interpretation of GPR Data

The non-invasive detection and digital documentation of buried archaeological heritage by means of geophysical prospection is increasingly gaining importance in modern field archaeology and archaeological heritage management. It frequently provides the detailed information required for heritage protection or targeted further archaeological research. High-resolution magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) became invaluable tools for the efficient and comprehensive non-invasive exploration of complete archaeological sites and archaeological landscapes. The analysis and detailed archaeological interpretation of the resulting large 2D and 3D datasets, and related data from aerial archaeology or airborne remote sensing, etc., is a time-consuming and complex process, which requires the integration of all data at hand, respective three-dimensional imagination, and a broad understanding of the archaeological problem; therefore, informative 3D visualizations supporting the exploration of complex 3D datasets and supporting the interpretative process are in great demand. This paper presents a novel integrated 3D GPR interpretation approach, centered around the flexible 3D visualization of heterogeneous data, which supports conjoint visualization of scenes composed of GPR volumes, 2D prospection imagery, and 3D interpretative models. We found that the flexible visual combination of the original 3D GPR datasets and images derived from the data applying post-processing techniques inspired by medical image analysis and seismic data processing contribute to the perceptibility of archaeologically relevant features and their respective context within a stratified volume. Moreover, such visualizations support the interpreting archaeologists in their development of a deeper understanding of the complex datasets as a starting point for and throughout the implemented interactive interpretative process.

Paper, Perception and…Facts? Exploring Archaeological Heritage Management in the Mediterranean and the Weight of Public Archaeology

#pubarchMED is a project aiming to define the dynamics of archaeological heritage management in the Mediterranean from the perspective of public archaeology. Its ethnographic approach draws on three main sources: legal and academic literature, observation and the perception of professionals. This paper aims to delve into the development of public archaeology and how it impacts practice across the Mediterranean. While the importance of contemporary society for archaeologists seems to be high in the interviews conducted, it will be discussed to what level current practice actually deals with these issues in a critique of a traditional approach to archaeology that does not recognize the transversality of public archaeology or its importance for the future of the discipline itself.

O ESTUÁRIO DO RIO POTENGI, PASSADO E PRESENTE: CARTA DE ZONEAMENTO ARQUEOLÓGICO SUBAQUÁTICO DO SÉCULO XVII

This article is the result of the final course work entitled “In the waters of the Potengi River: Underwater Archaeological Zoning Chart (17th century)” presented to the undergraduate course in History at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The Potengi River, also known in the 16th and 17th centuries as Pottiou, Rio Grande, Puttigi, Potiji, among others, was already known as a favorable space for navigation, as evidenced by cartographies, iconography and accounts of french, portuguese and dutch travelers from the century 16th and 17th. Using an interdisciplinary approach between History and Archaeology, this article aims to present the areas of underwater archaeological potential in the Potengi River estuary from the 17th century, taking into account the disturbances of the archaeological context over the years, finally presenting the archaeological zoning chart of the area, an important tool for the management of the municipal underwater archaeological heritage.

THE ESTUARY OF THE POTENGI RIVER, PAST AND PRESENT: LETTER OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL ZONING OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

This article is the result of the final course work entitled “In the waters of the Potengi River: Underwater Archaeological Zoning Chart (17th century)” presented to the undergraduate course in History at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The Potengi River, also known in the 16th and 17th centuries as Pottiou, Rio Grande, Puttigi, Potiji, among others, was already known as a favorable space for navigation, as evidenced by cartographies, iconography and accounts of french, portuguese and dutch travelers from the century 16th and 17th. Using an interdisciplinary approach between History and Archaeology, this article aims to present the areas of underwater archaeological potential in the Potengi River estuary from the 17th century, taking into account the disturbances of the archaeological context over the years, finally presenting the archaeological zoning chart of the area, an important tool for the management of the municipal underwater archaeological heritage.

THE INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MAP - A MODERN APPROACH FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

The paper presents one of the main products of the ArchTerr project “Integrated management of archaeological heritage: archaeological map and administrative procedures for heritage research and protection”. The project is funded by UEFISCDI following the collaboration of two scientific research centers, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galați and “Politehnica” University of Bucharest. The aim of this scientific paper is to present the main product of the above mentioned project, the interactive digital map of the historical archaeological heritage with geospatial information (Geographic Information Systems GIS). The paper presents the national context that generated the need to develop such a computer application, some European archaeological heritage records models that could be used as examples to follow and the achievements in this field in Romania. The new functionalities introduced by the interactive digital map developed within the ArchTerr project are: polygonal representation of any archeological site surface, representation of its protection area (when the site is also a historical monument), representation of researched areas using preventive archaeological methods, the representation of the archaeological discharged areas inside a site (following the preventive archaeological research). Regarding the efforts to protect the archaeological heritage, we mention the daily activity usefulness of this map for a wide range of users: county directorates for culture; urban planning services (within city halls and county councils); cadastral offices; real estate agencies; any person who intend to ask for a building permit inside an archaeological heritage protected area. At www.archterr.ro it could be found the fully functional interactive digital map.

Between Rationalism and Romanticism - Archaeological Heritage Management in the 1990s

In this article it is argued that "heritage" both as a theoretical concept and a practice, is central to defining archaeology's role in society. Greater critical attention should therefore be given to this arena of archaeological practice on the part of theoretical archaeology and the heritage administration itself. Since archaeological heritage management is situated between interests in the present, these have to be defined as a first step. Three basic concepts and their role in shaping the development of archaeological heritage management are briefly analysed: the cultural environment, the cultural biography and cultural identity. It is argued that they are part of a development towards a more holistic perception and ideological use of the cultural heritage. This invites political manipulation. To avoid this, certain universal objectives in combination with ethical guidelines are suggested.