Object-based predictive modeling (OBPM) for archaeology: finding control places in mountainous environments

none2This contribution examines the potential of object-based image analysis (OBIA) for archaeological predictive modeling starting from elevation data, by testing a ruleset for the location of “control places” on two test areas in the Alpine environment (northern Italy). The ruleset was developed on the western Asiago Plateau (Vicenza Province, Veneto) and subsequently re-applied (semi)automatically in the Isarco Valley (South Tirol). Firstly, we considered the physiographic, climatic, and morphological characteristics of the selected areas and we applied 3 DTM processing techniques: Slope, local dominance, and solar radiation. Subsequently, we employed an object-based approach to classification. Solar radiation, local dominance, and slope were visualized as a three-layer RGB image that was segmented with the multiresolution algorithm. The classification was implemented with a ruleset that selected only image–objects with high local dominance and solar radiation, but low slope, which were considered more suitable parameters for human occupation. The classification returned five areas on the Asiago Plateau that were remotely and ground controlled, confirming anthropic exploitation covering a time span from protohistory (2nd-1st millennium BC) to the First World War. Subsequently, the same model was applied to the Isarco Valley to verify the replicability of the method. The procedure resulted in 36 potential control places which find good correspondence with the archaeological sites discovered in the area. Previously unknown contexts were further controlled using very high-resolution (VHR) aerial images and digital terrain model (DTM) data, which often suggested a possible (pre-proto)historic human frequentation. The outcomes of the analysis proved the feasibility of the approach, which can be exported and applied to similar mountainous landscapes for site predictivity analysis.openMagnini, Luigi; Bettineschi, CinziaMagnini, Luigi; Bettineschi, Cinzi

Image processing and analysis of radar and lidar data: new discoveries in Verona southern lowland (Italy)

ABSTRACTThis contribution proposes an evaluation of lidar and radar data processing and its potential in revealing archaeological features within a level plain environment, the southern lowland of Verona (Italy), focusing on evidences dating back to the Bronze Age. Many archaeological sites in the research area, including some of the most outstanding settlements of Terramare Culture, were identified or at least examined through aerial photo observation. Even if in several occasions modern agricultural activities contributed to the discoveries, bringing to the surface artifacts and scrapes of buried layers, this kind of impact has also been progressively deteriorating the archaeological record, hence the proto-historic landscape is now discernible through evanescent marks which cannot be always detected using customary optical sensors. Lidar and radar data analysis has then been considered as an alternative, non-invasive method of investigation on such a vast area

Negrar di Valpolicella (VR). Indagini archeologiche e paleoambientali nel sito delle Colombare di Villa.

This paper presents the first results of research conducted in the prehistoric settlement of Colombare di Negrar di Valpolicella (VR) as of 2019. The site is located about 650 m above sea level, on a steep slope facing south, towards the Veronese plain and the lower Garda area. It was discovered and partially explored in the early 1950s by Francesco Zorzi and is characterized by a long continuity of occupation, certainly with solutions that apparently began in the recent Neolithic and ended at the threshold of the Iron Age. The fieldwork included surface reconnaissance and actual surveys aimed, on the one hand, at defining the spatial extent of prehistoric and protohistoric anthropization and, on the other hand, at verifying the stratigraphic sequences and their content in structural, cultural, paleoecological and paleoeconomic terms. The radiocarbon dates available to date relate to the early settlement phases of the recent and Late Neolithic and are inscribed in a chronological interval between about 4300 and 3500 BC in calibrated history. New data are expected for the subsequent exploitation phases of the Copper and Bronze Ages, which are well documented by the rich material culture. From the point of view of settlement strategy, the Colombare di Negrar site documents the occupation of sensitive areas from the point of view of territorial control and traffic. This occupation seems to have been aimed at the exploitation of the glassy flint characteristic of the Lessini, valued not only in northern Italy but also in the areas north of the Alpine watershed. The site was to be a center where the quality of the flints supplied from outside was tested in order to produce semi finished products for regional and national distribution. The large number of fragmented dagger blades seems to suggest that their production was common at the site. A wide range of pollen and carpological analyses, as well as studies on faecal biomarkers contained in the sediments, open up important palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomic perspectives. The embryonic forms of feeding and care of wild grapevines are in this sense among the most significant data to emerge from the research. Public archaeology, communication and educational activities are programmatically linked to the research project

Remote sensing e object-based image analysis: metodologie di approccio per la creazione di standard archeologici

In recent years, the field of remote sensing experienced an incredible growth thanks to the increasing quality and variety of sensors and the reduction of instrumental costs. The benefits for archaeology were soon apparent. So far, data interpretation remains essentially a prerogative of the human operator and is mediated by his skills and experiences. The continuous increase of datasets volume, i.e. the Big Data Explosion, and the increasing necessity to work on large scale projects require an overall revision of the methods traditionally used in archeology. In this sense, the research presented hereinafter contributes to assess the limits and potential of the emerging field of object-based image analysis (OBIA). The work focused on the definition of OBIA protocols for the treatment of three-dimensional data acquired by airborne and terrestrial laser scanning through the development of a wide range of case studies, used to illustrate the possibilities of the method in archeology. The results include a new, automated approach to identify, map and quantify traces of the First World War landscape around Fort Lusern (Province of Trento, Italy) and the recalcified osteological tissue on the skulls of two burials in the protohistoric necropolis of Olmo di Nogara (Province of Verona, Italy). Moreover, the method was employed to create a predictive model to locate “control places” in mountainous environments; the simulation was built for the Western Asiago Plateau (Province of Vicenza, Italy) and then re-applied with success in basin of Bressanone (Province of Bolzano, Italy). The accuracy of the results was verified thanks to respectively ground surveys, remote cross-validation and comparison with published literature. This confirmed the potential of the methodology, giving reasons to introduce the concept of Archaeological Object-Based Image Analysis (ArchaeOBIA), used to highlight the role of object-based applications in archaeology