Angkor Underground - Applying GPR to analyse the diachronic structure of a great urban complex

This thesis is based on surveys of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) conducted at Angkor, Cambodia. The appraisal of preceding remote sensing surveys led to selective ground based prospection for archaeological objects of interest on different scales. The successive relocation of the political and religious centre from the 9th to the 14th century has left a palimpsest landscape that reaches from small artificial habitation mounds, masonry monuments and their enclosures, to the extensive water management network of channels and earthworks that covered large parts of the floodplain between the Kulen Hills and Lake Tonle Sap. To make efficient use of the technique, the GPR survey had to be adjusted to those dimensions. The area-covering grid method was chosen for small scale surveys on habitation patterns, production sites and cemeteries, testing potential and limits in the application. A major factor in the measuring and processing of data was the floodplain geology of predominantly clayey sand and an environment prone to inundation that provided varying signal penetration depths depending on either compact or soft soil. For the larger scales, GPR was used in combination with GPS, GIS and remote sensing data sets. The concept of spatial configuration of monuments in and outside of enclosures led the search for remains of missing laterite and sandstone structures. A survey in the centre of Angkor Wat revealed the outline of six towers as part of a potential quincunx formation. They were further analysed by excavations to establish a preliminary construction history of the area. Surveys inside the peripheral enclosures of Chau Srei Vibol, Banteay Sra and Prasat Komnap showed evidence of demolished structures, some of it possibly from the Angkorian period. For questions concerning the functioning of a water management system in the Angkorian floodplain, GPR profiles in search for infrastructure were conducted alongside and over the embankments of the giant reservoirs. Evidence of outlets in the central areas of the eastern embankments of all four baray at Angkor confirmed them being part of the network. On the largest scale, GPR transects were run across parts of the floodplain to investigate the network of canals and earthworks that had been mapped by remote sensing. Obstacles, profiles and grids as well as the detected anomalies were integrated into a geo-referenced GIS database. Potential connections between centres and temples were integrated at areas where associated and previously mapped earthworks discontinued. Anomalies associated to the water management features were classified according to their characteristics and potential function as former artificial and natural channels, moats, ponds as well as masonry remains, and analysed with regard to archaeological maps and available remote sensing data. Newly acquired high resolution satellite radar (TerraSAR-X) data was used to evaluate a potential relation between water saturation and anomalies. The complete dataset was analysed for a complementation of archaeological maps and with the intent to separate features of the artificial canal network of Angkor from the natural landscape and the original distribution of rivers

Angkor Underground - Applying GPR to analyse the diachronic structure of a great urban complex

This thesis is based on surveys of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) conducted at Angkor, Cambodia. The appraisal of preceding remote sensing surveys led to selective ground based prospection for archaeological objects of interest on different scales. The successive relocation of the political and religious centre from the 9th to the 14th century has left a palimpsest landscape that reaches from small artificial habitation mounds, masonry monuments and their enclosures, to the extensive water management network of channels and earthworks that covered large parts of the floodplain between the Kulen Hills and Lake Tonle Sap. To make efficient use of the technique, the GPR survey had to be adjusted to those dimensions. The area-covering grid method was chosen for small scale surveys on habitation patterns, production sites and cemeteries, testing potential and limits in the application. A major factor in the measuring and processing of data was the floodplain geology of predominantly clayey sand and an environment prone to inundation that provided varying signal penetration depths depending on either compact or soft soil. For the larger scales, GPR was used in combination with GPS, GIS and remote sensing data sets. The concept of spatial configuration of monuments in and outside of enclosures led the search for remains of missing laterite and sandstone structures. A survey in the centre of Angkor Wat revealed the outline of six towers as part of a potential quincunx formation. They were further analysed by excavations to establish a preliminary construction history of the area. Surveys inside the peripheral enclosures of Chau Srei Vibol, Banteay Sra and Prasat Komnap showed evidence of demolished structures, some of it possibly from the Angkorian period. For questions concerning the functioning of a water management system in the Angkorian floodplain, GPR profiles in search for infrastructure were conducted alongside and over the embankments of the giant reservoirs. Evidence of outlets in the central areas of the eastern embankments of all four baray at Angkor confirmed them being part of the network. On the largest scale, GPR transects were run across parts of the floodplain to investigate the network of canals and earthworks that had been mapped by remote sensing. Obstacles, profiles and grids as well as the detected anomalies were integrated into a geo-referenced GIS database. Potential connections between centres and temples were integrated at areas where associated and previously mapped earthworks discontinued. Anomalies associated to the water management features were classified according to their characteristics and potential function as former artificial and natural channels, moats, ponds as well as masonry remains, and analysed with regard to archaeological maps and available remote sensing data. Newly acquired high resolution satellite radar (TerraSAR-X) data was used to evaluate a potential relation between water saturation and anomalies. The complete dataset was analysed for a complementation of archaeological maps and with the intent to separate features of the artificial canal network of Angkor from the natural landscape and the original distribution of rivers

NON-DESTRUCTIVE GPR ANALYSIS OF THREATENED ANGKORIAN CERAMIC KILNS AT BANGKONG, SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

Pedestrian surveys have identified a large number of 9th century ceramic kilns to the north of the early Angkorian centre of Hariharalaya. Recent development in this area has put this archaeological site under threat. With a large number of kilns already destroyed before analysis, it was necessary to identify the sites for protection from further damage.Since the defined areas showed little evidence on the surface, GPR surveys were conducted to find out what additional subsurface features could be used for classification. Using a 250MHz antenna system, the surveys were conducted over four kilns in varying state of preservation. The analysis included one definite and partly exposed kiln, and three potential kilns. Of the latter, one had been completely bulldozed, one partly destroyed and another one had remained undisturbed. The geophysical surveys shows the possibilities to better define the extent of the kiln mound. 3D visualization of the data displays depth and extent of the fire box and ware chamber of this type of Khmer kiln, providing the opportunity to better outline the area to be protected. The survey serves as a successful sample case for the systematic non-destructive mapping of known and newly discovered kiln sites

Human History and Digital Future

Korrigierter Nachdruck. Im Kapitel "Wallace/Moullou: Viability of Production and Implementation of Retrospective Photogrammetry in Archaeology" wurden die Acknowledgemens enfternt.The Proceedings of the 46th Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, held between March 19th and 23th, 2018 at the University of Tübingen, Germany, discuss the current questions concerning digital recording, computer analysis, graphic and 3D visualization, data management and communication in the field of archaeology. Through a selection of diverse case studies from all over the world, the proceedings give an overview on new technical approaches and best practice from various archaeological and computer-science disciplines

Archaeological explorations in the fortress of Santo Tomas of Jánico. New contributions to its historical understanding

The paper shows the results of archaeological surveys carried out at the site where the Spaniards founded the Fortress of Santo Tomás de Jánico in 1494, during the initial colonization of Hispaniola. With the objective to identify structural remains of the fortress, and to validate ideas of a second occupation of this enclave, as well as searching for new information about the materials used in its construction, technical means such as ground penetration radar (GPR), metal detector, total station (TS) and drones were used. A three-dimensional model of the surface of the archaeological site was created from the photogrammetric surveys, in order to provide a new topographic map. From archaeological field surveys in the vicinity of the fortress nine new indigenous archaeological sites were registered as well

INDUSTRIES OF ANGKOR PROJECT: PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF IRON PRODUCTION AT BOENG KROAM, PREAH KHAN OF KOMPONG SVAY

The Industries of Angkor Project (INDAP) is the first intensive investigation into the history and role of iron production at Preah Khan of Kompong Svay (Preah Khan), the largest regional enclosure complex built by the Angkorian Khmer (9th to 15th c. CE) in Cambodia. We present the initial multidisciplinary research of the primary iron smelting sites located on Boeng Kroam, a large reservoir located north of Preah Khan’s central temple complex. Ground-penetrating radar surveys and excavation at Location 1, a slag concentration on top of the reservoir bank, revealed that it is a deposit of metallurgical waste from a nearby furnace. Multiple radiocarbon dates from Location 1 indicate that the smelting activities took place in the early 15th century during the time of Angkor’s ultimate collapse as the political centre of the Khmer world. This indicates a re-use of spaces by iron workers after the primary occupation of Preah Khan between the 11th and 13th centuries

Siech(en)häuser des Spätmittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit als vernachlässigte Elemente der historischen Kulturlandschaft : Eine Spurensuche in Mainfranken

Siech(en)häuser waren einst Teil einer heute vergangenen Kulturlandschaft. Ein im Mittelalter und der frühen Neuzeit gängiges Element der Landschaft, häufig im ländlichen Raum zwischen zwei Orten gelegen, in denen unheilbar Kranke ihren Lebensabend verbrachten, wurden sie mit dem Verschwinden der Lepra in Deutschland ab dem 16. Jahrhundert obsolet. Ein Beispiel ist das Siechenhaus Gerolzhofen dessen archäologische Reste nur noch mit geophysikalischen Methoden aufgespürt werden konnte