Magnetometric Methods in Archaeology (on the Example of Excavations in Uruk, Iraq): Systematic Literature Review

The article examines various theoretical points of view and concepts that exist in the modern literature on the problem of conceptualization of magnetometry in the aspect of archaeological research. The aim of the article is to characterize magnetometric methods by studying the literature which describes the convergence of magnetometry and archaeological excavation issues, as well as to identify areas for future research developments. In conducting this study, such general scientific methods as a systematic approach, analysis, synthesis, and generalization were used. 72 scientific articles obtained from the results of a bibliographic search in the Scopus and RSCI databases were analyzed. A systematic review of the available scientific literature revealed a limited but rapidly growing coverage of this phenomenon by scientific research, which mainly focused on several aspects: characteristics of magnetometric methods, potential and problems of their use in archaeology; archaeological exploration-magnetic susceptibility studies, magnetometric studies; archaeomagnetic dating. Magnetometric methods are widely used in archaeological research of the city of Uruk and its surroundings. An analysis of the literature has provided insight into the important contribution of the information stored in the magnetic record to the modern archaeology of Uruk. The magnetometer study will continue and provide a comprehensive picture of the Uruk structure over time. Further research efforts to expand the scope of research on the possibilities of using magnetometry in archaeology can be aimed at overcoming a number of problems. The prospects for expanding the use of magnetometry in archaeology are associated with overcoming a number of methodological and technological limitations. Combining the magnetometry data and the results of statistical studies, such as Bayesian statistics, reduces the number of errors of each method and leads to an increase in the accuracy of the results.