Research methodology in montanistic tourism

Research methodology in montanistic tourism involves the archival research and study of special literature, surface and underground field survey, the analysis of findings of rock fragments, mineral composition, traces of metallurgical processes, fragments of pottery, etc. A separate problem is the study and evaluation of the development of mining and post-mining landscapes, focusing on the entire supply chain of resource industries and their impact on the cultural development of the country

Introduction to tensorial resistivity probability tomography

The probability tomography approach developed for the scalar resistivity method is here extended to the 2D tensorial apparent resistivity acquisition mode. The rotational invariant derived from the trace of the apparent resistivity tensor is considered, since it gives on the datum plane anomalies confined above the buried objects. Firstly, a departure function is introduced as the difference between the tensorial invariant measured over the real structure and that computed for a reference uniform structure. Secondly, a resistivity anomaly occurrence probability (RAOP) function is defined as a normalised crosscorrelation involving the experimental departure function and a scanning function derived analytically using the Frechet derivative of the electric potential for the reference uniform structure. The RAOP function can be calculated in each cell of a 3D grid filling the investigated volume, and the resulting values can then be contoured in order to obtain the 3D tomographic image. Each non-vanishing value of the RAOP function is interpreted as the probability which a resistivity departure from the reference resistivity obtain in a cell as responsible of the observed tensorial apparent resistivity dataset on the datum plane. A synthetic case shows that the highest RAOP values correctly indicate the position of the buried objects and a very high spacial resolution can be obtained even for adjacent objects with opposite resistivity contrasts with respect to the resistivity of the hosting matrix. Finally, an experimental field case dedicated to an archaeological application of the resistivity tensor method is presented as a proof of the high resolution power of the probability tomography imaging, even when the data are collected in noisy open field conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Martin J. Aitken (1922-2017)

No abstract available

How efficient is an integrative approach in archaeological geophysics? Comparative case studies from Neolithic settlements in Thessaly (Central Greece)

The geophysical prospection of Neolithic tells imposes specific challenges due to the preservation and nature of the architectural context and the multiple, usually disturbed, soil strata. Contrary to the usual application of a single method, this paper deals with the advantages of using an integrated geophysical approach through the employment of various methodologies to map the Neolithic cul-tural and environmental landscape of Thessalian tells (magoules) in Central Greece. The success and failure of each method in resolving the various features of the magoules are discussed in detail, and as a whole, they demonstrate the benefits of a manifold geophysical prospection of the sites

Archaeological Prospecting Using Historic Aerial Imagery: Investigations in Northeast and Southwest Arkansas

This research investigates the potential of historic aerial photographs as a tool for archaeological site prospecting. Craighead and Mississippi Counties in northeast Arkansas and areas adjacent to the Red and Little Rivers in southwest Arkansas were chosen as study areas. These regions have undergone significant changes in the past few decades and were expected to yield visible types of archaeological sites. Historic aerial images of these areas were obtained through the U.S. Geological Survey\u27s EarthExplorer database (http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/). These images were processed using Agisoft PhotoScan Professional to produce extensive regional orthoimages. Using the Arkansas Archeological Survey\u27s Automated Management of Archeological Site Data in Arkansas (AMASDA) database, known archaeological sites dating later than Late Woodland were compared against PhotoScan-generated orthoimagery to see if they were visible using a tripartite classification scheme: site invisible, site possibly visible, and site visible. Trends in site visibility were assessed in terms of the photographs\u27 characteristics (e.g., dates, geographic scales, download resolutions) and the nature of the archaeological sites (e.g., surface scatters, mound sites, middens, standing structures). For specific archaeological sites, possible archaeological, modern, and natural features were digitized. Within-site visibility was reexamined with respect to the sites\u27 temporal ranges, previously documented structures and features, seasonal differences of the imagery, and disturbances from modern land-use. Historic digital elevation models (DEMs) were generated in PhotoScan to assess the performance of the software\u27s geometry-building algorithm for intrasite prospecting. Overall, only a small percentage of specific site types (i.e., mounds, historic structures, middens) were classified as definitively visible. However, the site classification scheme used in this study provides a subset of sites with potential archaeological anomalies, which can be investigated more closely with site survey reports. High-resolution orthoimages and DEMs produced from stereopairs in PhotoScan also present archaeologically promising anomalies for subsequent analyses

“BIG DATA” EN PROSPECCIÓN ARQUEOLÓGICA DEL PAISAJE

[EN] While traditionally archaeological research has mainly been focused on individual cultural heritage monuments or distinct archaeological sites, the Austrian based Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology goes beyond the limitations of discrete sites in order to understand their archaeological context. This is achieved by investigating the space in-between the sites, studying entire archaeological landscapes from the level of individual postholes to the mapping of numerous square kilometres. This large-scale, high-resolution, multi-method prospection approach leads to enormous digital datasets counting many terabytes of data that until recently were technically not manageable. Novel programs and methods of data management had to be developed for data acquisition, processing and archaeological interpretation, in order to permit the extraction of the desired information from the very big amount of data. The analysis of the generated datasets is conducted with the help of semi-automatic algorithms within complex three-, or even four-dimensional geographical information systems. The outcome of landscape archaeological prospection surveys is visually communicated to the scientific community as well as to the general public and stakeholders. In many cases, a visualization of the scientific result and archaeological interpretations can be a powerful and suitable tool to illustrate and communicate even complex contexts to a wide audience. This paper briefly presents the great potential offered by a combination of large-scale non-invasive archaeological prospection methods and standardized workflows for the integration of big data, its interpretation and visualization. The proposed approach provides a context for buried archaeology across entire archaeological landscapes, changing our understanding of known monuments. We address the overcome and remaining challenges with the help of examples taken from outstanding landscape archaeological prospection case studies.[ES] Aunque tradicionalmente la investigación arqueológica ha estado fundamentalmente centrada en monumentos y yacimientos arqueológicos de forma individual, el Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (Austria) va más allá de los límites de yacimientos particulares con el objetivo de entender su contexto arqueológico. Esto es conseguido mediante la investigación del espacio entre yacimientos y estudiando paisajes arqueológicos completos yendo desde un hoyo de poste hasta el mapeado de varios kilómetros cuadrados. El enfoque de prospección multi-metodológico a gran escala y de alta resolución conduce hacia un enorme conjunto de datos digital que incluye varios Terabytes de información los cuales no habían podido ser manipulados hasta hace poco debido a limitaciones tecnológicas. Por consiguiente, nuevos programas y métodos de gestión de datos han sido diseñados para la adquisición y procesado de datos así como interpretación arqueológica para así permitir la extracción de la información deseada desde estos enormes bancos de datos. El análisis de estos conjuntos de datos generados es llevado a cabo a través de análisis de sistemas de información geográfica tridimensionales e incluso cuatridimensionales. El resultado de la prospección de paisajes arqueológicos es transferido de forma visual a la comunididad científica así como al gran público e interesados en la materia. En muchos casos una visualización de los resultados científicos e interpretaciones arqueológicas puede ser una herramienta más poderosa y adecuada para ilustrar y comunicar contextos arqueológicos complejos a un público mayor. Este artículo presenta de forma breve el gran potencial ofrecido por la combinación de métodos de prospección arqueológica de gran resolución a gran escala y unos flujos de trabajo estandarizados para integración, interpretación y visualización de datos. La estrategía propuesta proporciona un contexto para restos arqueológicos enmarcados en paisajes arqueológicos que viene a cambiar nuestra forma de entender monumentos ya conocidos. Pretendemos también superar los desafios que quedan con la ayuda de ejemplos sacados de excepcionales paisajes arqueológicos que son nuestros estudios de caso a prospectar.Torrejón Valdelomar, J.; Wallner, M.; Trinks, I.; Kucera, M.; Luznik, N.; Löcker, K.; Neubauer, W. (2016). BIG DATA IN LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION. En 8th International congress on archaeology, computer graphics, cultural heritage and innovation. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 238-246. https://doi.org/10.4995/arqueologica8.2015.4200OCS23824

Change is good: adapting strategies for archaeological prospection in a rapidly changing technological world

Ye

Prospecting for new questions: integrating geophysics to define anthropological research objectives and inform excavation strategies at monumental sites

Geophysical data have the potential to significantly contribute to archaeological research projects when effectively integrated with more traditional methods. Although pre-existing archaeological questions about a site may be answered using geophysical methods, beginning an investigation with an extensive geophysical survey can assist in understanding the function and archaeological potential of a site, and may even transform preconceptions about the type and spatial organisation of features that are present. In this way, these prospection tools not only accurately locate and map features to allow recovery of cultural material for identification and dating, we argue that they can go much further, allowing us to prospect for new and appropriate archaeological and anthropological research questions. Such an approach is best realised when geophysical and traditional archaeologists work together to define new objectives and strategies to address them, and by maintaining this collaboration to allow continual feedback between geophysical and archaeological data. A flexible research design is therefore essential in order to allow the methodologies to adapt to the site, the results, and the questions being posed. This methodology is demonstrated through two case studies from mound sites in southeast USA: the transitional Mississippian Washausen site in Illinois; and the Middle Woodland Garden Creek site in North Carolina. In both cases, integrating geophysical methods throughout the archaeological investigations has resulted in multiple phases of generating and addressing new research objectives. Although clearly beneficial at these two mound sites in southeast USA, this interdisciplinary approach has obvious implications well beyond these temporal and geographical areas

Aerial Archaeology in the Space Age

No abstract availabl