Using airborne LiDAR Survey to explore historic-era archaeological landscapes of Montserrat in the eastern Caribbean

This article describes what appears to be the first archaeological application of airborne LiDAR survey to historic-era landscapes in the Caribbean archipelago, on the island of Montserrat. LiDAR is proving invaluable in extending the reach of traditional pedestrian survey into less favorable areas, such as those covered by dense neotropical forest and by ashfall from the past two decades of active eruptions by the Soufrière Hills volcano, and to sites in localities that are inaccessible on account of volcanic dangers. Emphasis is placed on two aspects of the research: first, the importance of ongoing, real-time interaction between the LiDAR analyst and the archaeological team in the field; and second, the advantages of exploiting the full potential of the three-dimensional LiDAR point cloud data for purposes of the visualization of archaeological sites and features

Neutron Imaging of Archaeological Bronzes at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

AbstractThis article presents the initial results of 2-D and 3-D neutron imaging of bronze artifacts using the CG-1D prototype beamline at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Neutron imaging is a non-destructive technique capable of producing unprecedented three-dimensional information on archaeomaterials, including qualitative, quantitative, and visual data on impurities, composition change, voids, and structure at macro-scale levels. The initial results presented in this publication highlight how information from neutron imaging can provide otherwise inaccessible details about the methods and materials that ancient craftspeople used in creating bronze objects