Accuracy assessment of UAV-based documentation of archaeological site: Kültepe-Kaneš

Abstract

High quality 2D/3D metric documentation of archaeological sites is used in many different applications such as archaeological-heritage management, digital archaeological excavation planning, orthophotographic documentation, and ancient Digital Surfaces Models (DSM) research. Structure-from-Motion based photogrammetry (SfM) is an indirect geodesic measurement technique based on multiple view image processing using high-level automation techniques. Using SfM to generate the high accuracy 2D/3D data needed for digital documentation of archaeological cultural heritage is relatively practical, economical, and fast. Factors such as the number of ground control points and their distribution to the study area, the robustness of the camera system model parameters, and the analytical model of the photogrammetric triangulation method used affect the accuracy of the data produced using SfM-photogrammetry. Kültepe-Kaneš, the center of the ancient Kingdom of Kaneš, which is located in central-Anatolia, was an Assyrian Trade Colony active between ca. 2000 BC and 1700 BC. The site, which was the center of the Old Assyrian trade colonies in Anatolia and one of the most important sites in ancient history, has been under excavation for the last 75 years. In this paper, high accuracy digital documentation of the Kültepe-Kaneš archaeological excavation area was made using different SfM methods. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in accuracy between Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) and Post-Process Kinematic (PPK) methods for the study area. This suggests that either PPK, RTK, or aerial triangulation with Ground Control Points (GCPs) can be employed to generate orthophotos and DSMs for archaeological sites with relatively flat surface areas, as long as a sufficient number of uniformly distributed GCPs are used.