Aerial Archeology

Shortly after the release of Google Earth, its applications to archaeology was theorized and tested, but thus far there has been little research to evaluate its applicability to survey previously well researched and accessible areas. In order to test this potential application of Google Earth images, I surveyed 965 sq. km of Northumberland by defining 23 small survey areas. These survey areas were scattered across the county using the Landscape Characterization Zones, to take into account the different landforms, as well as past and present land uses, that may impact the site distribution. In the survey, I identified 170 potential archaeological sites, of which more than 21% were previously unrecorded according to the Heritage Environment Records. A comparison with aerial photographs of a sub-sample of my sites, as well as analysis of my results, revealed very important information about the site distribution in Northumberland, and about the applicability of Google Earth images to archaeology. Although Google Earth is far from the perfect tool for archaeological surveys, its success in past surveys as well as in the present survey clearly indicates that it is a very useful tool for archaeological surveying, even in accessible and previously well-researched areas.

Closely following the invention of photography in the mid-1800s, stereophotogrammetry emerged as the science of extracting metric data from pairs of still photographs. Although commonly employed and developed by governments for civil and military purposes (often using aerial photographs), it was not until the 1970s that archaeological publications employing pho-togrammetry became routine. Early applications in archaeology often featured specialized pairs of fixed-base cameras with precise calibration to take stereopairs of photographs, although individual cameras could also be moved to achieve similar ends. Early applications of stereophotogrammetry both facilitated the display of archaeological findings and aided in analysis. Subjects of study ranged in scale from engravings to monument complexes, and allowed linear and volumetric measurements to be made. Despite its acknowledged potential, in its earlier form the technology did not see widespread use by archaeologists; stereoscopic equipment was expensive and highly specialized, costing over six figures in the 1970s, and required a skilled operator. Some of these concerns were mitigated with increasing use of computers in analysis, although photogrammetry remained a relatively specialized tool into the early 2000s. While originally clumsy and inaccessible , early developments established both the conceptual and technological foundation for modern photogrammetry to progress.

In various disciplines, particularly those that utilise techniques developed in the geosciences, the display, analysis and interpretation of three-dimensional (3D) data is very important. This is also the case in archaeology. Irrespective of a site- or landscape-centred point of focus, archaeology deals with very complex surfaces and always examines traces of past human presence in three geometrical dimensions. Visualising these detailed geometric environments is not that much of an issue anymore; however, interactively interpreting and mapping them is still problematic. Despite the steady increase in technologies to create 3D models, there is still a serious lack of tools that allow for easy interaction with these models in a metrical and coordinate system-aware environment. As a result, most—if not all—interpretation workflows will first downscale 3D data to two-and-a-half-dimensional (2.5D) or 2D data sets, thus effectively discarding up to one geometrical dimension. To enable or enhance the perception of topographic characteristics in these geometrically compromised datasets, various visualisation techniques have been developed to artificially restore and enhance the data that was initially discarded. While these techniques work very well to enhance the remaining pertinent features present in such data sets, data downscaling can nevertheless irrevocably eliminate significant amounts of important archaeological information. Therefore, this paper outlines a new processing and interpretation pipeline for complex archaeological 3D surfaces that do not rely on downscaling of data, while also discussing several 3D-related concepts and issues along the way. More specifically, this article focusses on the generation of intelligently decimated, two-manifold triangular meshes and the subsequent geo-referenced 3D interpretative mapping of these surfaces. Furthermore, all applications can be considered low- and even no-cost, making this a readily implemented processing and interpretation workflow. Additionally, all software packages are easy to learn and flexible enough for implementation in any existing mixed software pipeline.

Aerial reconnaissance continues to be a vital tool for landscape-oriented archaeological research. Although a variety of remote sensing platforms operate within the earth's atmosphere, the majority of aerial archaeological information is still derived from oblique photographs collected during observer-directed reconnaissance flights, a prospection approach which has dominated archaeological aerial survey for the past century. The resulting highly biased imagery is generally catalogued in sub-optimal (spatial) databases, if at all, after which a small selection of images is orthorectified and interpreted. For decades, this has been the standard approach. Although many innovations, including digital cameras, inertial units, photogrammetry and computer vision algorithms, geographic(al) information systems and computing power have emerged, their potential has not yet been fully exploited in order to re-invent and highly optimise this crucial branch of landscape archaeology. The authors argue that a fundamental change is needed to transform the way aerial archaeologists approach data acquisition and image processing. By addressing the very core concepts of geographically biased aerial archaeological photographs and proposing new imaging technologies, data handling methods and processing procedures, this paper gives a personal opinion on how the methodological components of aerial archaeology, and specifically aerial archaeological photography, should evolve during the next decade if developing a more reliable record of our past is to be our central aim. In this paper, a possible practical solution is illustrated by outlining a turnkey aerial prospection system for total coverage survey together with a semi-automated back-end pipeline that takes care of photograph correction and image enhancement as well as the management and interpretative mapping of the resulting data products. In this way, the proposed system addresses one of many bias issues in archaeological research: the bias we impart to the visual record as a result of selective coverage. While the total coverage approach outlined here may not altogether eliminate survey bias, it can vastly increase the amount of useful information captured during a single reconnaissance flight while mitigating the discriminating effects of observer-based, on-the-fly target selection. Furthermore, the information contained in this paper should make it clear that with current technology it is feasible to do so. This can radically alter the basis for aerial prospection and move landscape archaeology forward, beyond the inherently biased patterns that are currently created by airborne archaeological prospection.

It is only possible in rare cases to compare aerial photographs, fieldwork data, surveys of two types of magnetometer measurements, and metal detector surveys of a site with the results of a previous rescue excavation.
The cooperation of the Castle Headquaters Integrated Developement Centre, the Szent István Király Museum of Székesfehérvár, and the Institute of Archaeological Sciences at the Eötvös Loránd University made the discovery of the multi-period site on the outskirts of Pusztaszabolcs possible.

La ripresa fotografica aerea da aquilone (KAP) vanta di una lunga e gloriosa storia e ancora oggi, nell'era dei droni, può continuare ad avere un ruolo significativo in questo campo della fotografia così spettacolare ed essenziale per la ricerca archeologica.

Kite aerial photography (KAP) boasts a long and glorious history and still today, in the era of drones, it can continue to play a significant role in this field of photography so spectacular and essential for archaeological research.

This publication (Part I) presents the results from the summer
season of 2019 of the efforts of R&D SME Architectural Spies for
creating a precise three-dimensional base for further developing of the
digital reconstruction of the Imperial Roman Thermae of the ancient
Odessos. The initial 3D model of the reconstruction was created by
the team of Dr. N. Stamatova with the scientific support of Prof. Dr.
S.Boyadzhiev between 2006 and 2013.
The first attempts of the team to create a 3D model of the above
archaeological site, based on the method of photogrammetry, were
done in 2013-2014 by the software 123D Catch and ReMake
(Memento), the predecessors of the current for 2019 software ReCap.
Illustrations have been included in the publication of Dr. N.Stamatova
“Preparation of 3D Models of Archaeological Sites, Buildings,
Fragments and Details through Automatic Transformation of 2D Data.
Examples of the Territory of the City of Varna. Use of the Method for
Preparing a Database for Development of Software Applications for
Augmented Reality”.
The work in the summer of 2019 was done with the
photogrammetric software Zephyr. The next results will be presented
as a publication Part II. The team considers that the achieved precision
in digitization of the existing ruins in 2019 is sufficient for continuing
the work on the assembling of the prepared 3D models. The final 3D
model of the existing ruins will be a base for continuing the work on
the digital reconstruction of this archaeological site, aiming its
exposure by the means of the Virtual Reality and of the Augmented
Reality

Luchtfotografische archeologische prospectie is reeds een eeuw oud, maar de basisprincipes bleven al die tijd onveranderd. Het laatste decennium bracht echter grote technologische veranderingen met zich mee: computers werden sneller, software geavanceerder en digitale camera’s beter. Een van de ontwikkelingen met een steeds groeiende impact is de introductie van drones. Vertrekkend van de geschiedenis en de basisprincipes van luchtfotografie, tracht dit artikel de huidige mogelijkheden en het belang van deze telegeleide of autonoom opererende vliegtuigen uit de doeken te doen.

The First World War saw the rapid development of air photographic interpretation techniques aimed primarily at the recognition of military targets. Following the war the interpretation process expanded away from directly military to civilian uses and there was an increasing awareness of the potential of air photography both in finding and interpreting archaeological sites. Indeed, the expansion of the field meant that when the Second World War occurred within twenty five years of the first, there was already an experienced set of interpreters available.
This paper concentrates on Britain and maps the developmental route from the focused interpretation of trench battlefields during the First World War to the interwar period using three extant sources from the period: the training manual Illustrations to Accompany Notes on the Interpretation of Aeroplane Photographs. Series A printed ‘in the Field’ during the first war by the British General Staff (1917), O.G.S. Crawford’s seminal Air Survey and Archaeology, first presented to the Royal Geographical Society (1923) and republished by the Ordnance Survey (1924; second edition, 1928) and the 1929 Manual of Map Reading, Photo Reading, and Field Sketching published by the War Office.

Evaluation of the Development Changes and Threats for the Early Medieval Settlement Complex in Giecz and its Vicinities.
Paper in Polish language with English abstract at the end of the article. The article concerns the evaluation of the development changes and threats connected with the early medieval settlement complex in Giecz. Its authors strive for an attempt at answering the questions of how for hundreds of years the way of spatial development in the vicinities of Giecz complex has been changing and what potential threats can be detected on the basis of the analysis of presented information. Introducing the issue, the authors rely on various supplies of data, which make an analysis of this kind considerably easier. Data presented and analyzed contains results of the surface survey conducted as a part of Polish Archaeological Record, aerial photographs, spatial data (satellite imagery, orthophotomap, topographic map), historic maps as well as information obtained from the zoning plan of the commune within which Giecz settlement complex is located.