Archaeological Prospection最新文献

Tumuli, ancient burial mounds, stand as intriguing archaeological features, offering valuable insights into past cultures and burial practices. This paper explores the significance of tumuli inspection and utilizes electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) as a noninvasive and powerful tool for inspecting these enigmatic structures, using a nonconventional array. Tumuli, spanning various shapes and sizes, serve as repositories of cultural and funerary traditions, and understanding their internal composition is crucial for unravelling historical narratives. ERT has emerged as a promising geophysical method for investigating subsurface structures, including tumuli. By imaging the electrical resistivity of the ground, ERT enables archaeologists to map variations in soil composition and identify buried features without excavation. This paper reviews the principles of ERT and its application in tumulus studies, showcasing a case study where ERT has successfully revealed internal structures, burial chambers and associated artefacts. The use of 2D ERT is common in tumuli inspection, ignoring accurate 3D effects from the topography. Here we highlight the benefits of the 3D inversion, while we provide a different way to measure which is cost efficient and provides increased spatial resolution to the area of interest. The integration of 3D ERT into archaeological investigations not only enhances our understanding of tumuli construction but also preserves these cultural heritage sites by minimizing the need for invasive excavation. This research contributes to the evolving methodologies in archaeology, emphasizing the synergy between modern technology and traditional archaeological inquiry to uncover the secrets held within tumuli.

The construction history and subsequent usage of burial mounds are an important testimony for socio-economic transformation in prehistoric societies. The Baalberge–Schneiderberg burial mound, subject of the presented study, falls in this category as it is considered as an important monument that indicates the emergence of early social stratification during the Chalcolithic period in central Europe. This hypothesis relies on the chronological development of the burial mound, which is not fully understood until now. Therefore, a reconstruction of the complex stratigraphy of the burial mound including construction phases and later alterations is highly relevant for archaeological research, but the required excavations would be onerous and inconsistent with preservation efforts. In this paper, we demonstrate that non-invasive geophysical prospection, especially seismic sounding with shear and Love waves, is suitable to obtain the required stratigraphic information, if seismic full waveform inversion (FWI) and reflection imaging are applied. Complementary information on the preservation state of the mound is obtained through Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) measurements. To support the seismic and geoelectric results, we utilize Dynamic Testing (DynP), geoarchaeological corings, ¹⁴C-Dating and archaeological records. Our investigations reveal two construction phases of the Baalberge–Schneiderberg mound. The ¹⁴C-Dating yields dates for the older burial mound that are contemporary to the Chalcolithic Baalberge group (4000–3400 bc). During the Early Bronze Age (EBA), the mound was enlarged to its final size by people of the Aunjetitz/Únětice society (2300–1600 bc). However, both seismic and geoelectric depth sections show an extensive disturbance of the original stratigraphy due to former excavations. For this reason, the exact shape of the older burial mound cannot be determined exactly. Based on our data, we estimate that its height was below 2 m. In consequence, the original Baalberge burial mound was less monumental as until now assumed, which potentially prompting a revision of its significance as indicator for social differentiation.

The Great Tumulus of Apollonia in northern Greece, with a diameter of ~100 m and a height of 19 m, is among the largest of its kind in the region of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. It is located north of the ancient city of Apollonia and recently became the focus of limited archaeological excavations, which revealed a looted Macedonian tomb. Archaeological findings and other evidence from the tumulus and its surroundings suggest that it may have been used more than once; therefore, the existence of more tombs in its interior is possible. In this work, we investigate the internal structure of the monument by means of 3-D seismic travel time tomography. Using direct sparse methods, we calculate efficiently the full model resolution matrix that allows us to investigate the robustness of the tomographic model. Our results suggest a complex structure with variable properties between the east and the western side of the tumulus. We also detect several regions that may be associated with additional burial locations or other possible targets of archaeological interest.

Airborne laser scanning (ALS), commonly known as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), is a remote sensing technique that enables transformative archaeological research by providing high-density 3D representations of landscapes and sites covered by vegetation whose analysis reveals hidden features and structures. ALS can detect targets under trees and grasslands, making it an ideal archaeological survey and mapping tool. ALS instruments are usually mounted on piloted aircraft. However, since the mid-2010s, smaller laser scanners can be mounted on uncrewed aerial vehicles or drones. In this article, we examined the viability of drone-based ALS for archaeological applications by utilizing a RIEGL VUX-UAV²² sensor to capture point clouds with high spatial resolution at the archaeological site of Heloros in Southeastern Sicily, founded by the Greeks in the late eighth century bce. Using this laser scanner, we surveyed over 1.6 km² of the archaeological landscape, producing datasets that outperformed noncommercial airborne ALS data for the region made available by the Italian government. We produced derivative imagery free of vegetation, which we visualized in GIS using a modified Local Relief Model technique to aid our archaeological analyses. Our findings demonstrate that drone-based ALS can penetrate the dense Mediterranean canopy of coastal Sicily with sufficient point density to enable more efficient mapping of underlying archaeological features such as stone quarries, cart tracks, defensive towers and fortification walls. Our study proved that drone-based ALS sensors can be easily transported to remote locations and that in-house lab staff can safely operate them, which enables multiple on-demand surveys and opportunistic collections to be conducted on the fly when environmental conditions are ideal. We conclude that these capabilities further increase the benefits of utilizing ALS for surveying the archaeological landscape under the Mediterranean canopy.