Good Practice in Archaeological Diagnostics: Non-invasive Survey of Complex Archaeological Sites

339 Pages·2013·27.74 MB·English

by  Cristina Corsi (auth.)

Natural Science in Archaeology
Cristina Corsi
Božidar Slapšak
Frank Vermeulen
Editors
Good Practice
in Archaeological
Diagnostics
Non-invasive Survey of Complex
Archaeological Sites
Natural Science in Archaeology
Series Editors
Bernd Herrmann
Günther A. Wagner
Christopher E. Miller
For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/3703

Cristina Corsi (cid:129) Božidar Slapšak
Frank Vermeulen
Editors
Good Practice
in Archaeological
Diagnostics
Non-invasive Survey of Complex
Archaeological Sites
Editors
Cristina Corsi Frank Vermeulen
Department of Humanities Department of Archaeology
University of Cassino Universiteit Gent
Cassino Ghent
Italy Belgium
Božidar Slapšak
Department of Archaeology
University of Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Slovenia
ISSN 1613-9712
ISBN 978-3-319-01783-9 ISBN 978-3-319-01784-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01784-6
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013956503
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013
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Contents
1 Good Practice in Archaeological Diagnostics:
An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Cristina Corsi
Part I Remote Sensing
2 Aerial Photography in Archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Giuseppe Ceraudo
3 Undistorting the Past: New Techniques for
Orthorectifi cation of Archaeological Aerial
Frame Imagery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Geert Verhoeven, Christopher Sevara, Wilfried Karel,
Camillo Ressl, Michael Doneus, and Christian Briese
4 Roman Urban Survey: The Mapping and Monitoring
of Complex Settlement Sites with Active
Aerial Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Frank Vermeulen
5 Integrated Approach for Archaeological Prospection
Exploiting Airborne Hyperspectral Remote Sensing . . . . . . . 87
Rosa Maria Cavalli
6 Skin Deep: LiDAR and Good Practice
of Landscape Archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Dimitrij Mlekuž
Part II Geophysics
7 Magnetic Exploration of Archaeological Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Bruce W. Bevan and Tatiana N. Smekalova
8 Earth Resistance Survey: A Mature Archaeological
Geophysics Method for Archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Cèsar Carreras Monfort
9 Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Alexandre Novo
v
vi Contents
10 Interpretation and Guidelines for Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Cornelius Meyer
Part III Topographic and Geoarchaeological Surveys
11 Intra-site Artefact Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
John Bintliff
12 Site Discovery and Evaluation Through Minimal
Interventions: Core Sampling, Test Pits
and Trial Trenches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Philip Verhagen
13 Creating and Analysing
Digital Terrain Models for Archaeological Research . . . . . . . 227
José-Ángel Martínez-del-Pozo, Victorino Mayoral-Herrera,
and Pedro Ortiz-Coder
14 The Geoarchaeological Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Eric Fouache
Part IV Visualisation and Site Management
15 Implementing Best Practice in Cultural Heritage
Visualisation: The London Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Hugh Denard
16 International Guidelines for Virtual Archaeology:
The Seville Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Víctor Manuel López-Menchero Bendicho
17 Reconstructing Past Landscapes for Virtual Museums . . . . . 285
Ivana Cerato and Sofi a Pescarin
18 Computer-Aided 3D Visualisation of Roman Towns . . . . . . . . 297
Michael Klein
19 Preservation of Virtual Reconstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Daniel Pletinckx
20 Best Practises for a Sustainable Management Plan:
The Case Study Ammaia in the European Context . . . . . . . . . 315
Sigrid M. van Roode
Part V Conclusions
21 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Simon Keay
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
1
Good Practice in Archaeological
Diagnostics: An Introduction
Cristina Corsi
Contents By the term ‘archaeological diagnostics’, we mean
a whole array of methodologies and approaches to
1.1 Making a ‘Radiography’ of the Past ........ 2
the survey of archaeological sites, mainly refer-
1.2 Data Acquisition Versus
ring to those that do not imply excavations or at
Understanding ............................................ 4
least only very limited ones. ‘Non- destructive’ or
1.3 A Question of Integration.......................... 4
‘non-invasive’ approaches to the investigation of
1.4 Size Matters ................................................ 5 ancient landscapes have always been available to
archaeologists, since the fi rst methodological defi -
1.5 The Fourth Dimension ............................... 6
nitions of the discipline were drafted (e.g. Bradford
References ................................................................. 6
1957 ; Clarke 1977 , 1990 ; Pasquinucci and
Trément 2000 ; Renfrew and Bahn 2 000 ). Among
the most traditional methods, the collection of his-
torical documentation and the fi eld survey are
undoubtedly the best developed, but aerial archae-
ology also provided a boost as soon as photogra-
phy and fl ying machines came into use (Chap. 2
by Ceraudo, in this volume). The use of ancient
sources, archive research and toponymy for the
investigation of cultural landscapes is so rooted
that it has not been possible here to devote specifi c
chapters to these branches of archaeological
research. Robust new GIS processing of historical
cartography could surely have merited special
attention (some reviews of recent case studies are
in Corsi and Vermeulen 2 007 and Börner et al.
2 012 ). However, we have decided to limit the
already wide spectrum of this volume to the new-
est technological developments achieved in remote
sensing and geophysical surveying and to the most
recent methodological innovations that have been
introduced to the broad approach of the archaeo-
C. Corsi
logical survey of greenfi eld sites.
Department of Humanities , University of Cassino ,
A very important section of this volume deals
Cassino , Italy
e-mail: [email protected] with aspects related to the visualisation of survey
C. Corsi et al. (eds.), Good Practice in Archaeological Diagnostics, Natural Science in Archaeology, 1
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01784-6_1, © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013
2 C. Corsi
data and their valorisation. In the fi eld of digital virtual reconstruction, we can only list the books
technologies for virtual reconstruction and data edited by Maurizio Forte ( Forte 1 997 ; Forte and
visualisation, recent years have seen not only Williams 2 002 ), Juan Barcelo et al . (2 000 ), Gary
spectacular developments but also a growing Lock (2 003 ) and Mark Greengrass and Lora
awareness of the need for ‘regulation’ and the Hughes (2 008 ), just to mention a handful.
delineation of standards and guidelines. In this Instead, we have tried to cover the two main
regard, we present here the up-to-date results of spheres of our work: research and valorisation. We
the international debates that have produced the have sought to provide a good coverage of the dif-
indispensible ‘charters’ of London and Seville. ferent methods of data capture, all possibly
When we attempted this enterprise, we were included in the defi nition of ‘remote sensing’, and
obviously aware of the fact that the themes we have provided an insight into the different
encompassed would be very extensive and that approaches to data integration. At the same time,
this collective work could not hope to be compre- by mainly examining the aspects related to the
hensive, neither in the range of topics nor in the interpretation and visualisation of data and via
technicality of the contributions. Our intention the discussion of specifi c management plans for
was, and still is, primarily to report on the inten- the valorisation of this peculiar category of site
sive exchange and collaboration carried out in where most evidence is ‘invisible’ to visitors, we
recent years and secondly to offer an up-to-the- intend to lay the ground for a discussion about the
minute hint for further discussion. essential aspects of cultural heritage management.
Not least, our intention is also to provide an The discussion about the basic principles of
instrument to young researchers and students as a the digital reconstructions has been extended on
starting point for the framing these nowadays several occasions to specialists and the wider
very popular subjects of discussion and training public. We are, of course, aware of the dangers,
and to offer them the possibility of deepening but at the same time we want to stress how much
their knowledge of the aspects that they feel are not only interdisciplinary teamwork but also 3D
closest to their interests and suitable to their visualisation has enhanced our comprehension of
talents. spatial phenomena and relationships. Surely a 3D
We have taken care to avoid overlaps with digital reconstruction is more effective and ‘con-
the much more technical manuals about specifi c vincing’ than a plan reconstructing the layout of a
techniques, such as the very popular Seeing the town; however, it is not necessarily more ‘inven-
Unseen: Geophysics and Landscape Archaeo- tive’ or less scientifi c.
logy, edited by Salvatore Piro and Stefano
Campana (Campana and Piro 2 009 ) and the
manual by Armin Schmidt entitled G eophysical 1.1 Making a ‘Radiography’
Data in Archaeology: A Guide to Good Practice of the Past
(Schmidt 2 001a , 2 013 ; see also Schmidt and
Ernenwein 2 013 ) or the Arts and Humanities This book constitutes the fi nal and possibly most
Data Services Guides to Good Practice (2 004 ; durable ‘deliverable’ of the project Radio-Past
available online at: http://www.ahds.ac.uk/ ( w ww.radiopast.eu ) , the Marie Curie/People
guides/ ) . These indeed cover several fi elds, but Industry and Academy Partnerships and Pathways
there is no framing of the disciplines, only guide- (IAPP) project entitled, ‘Radiography of the past:
lines for good practice in archiving and data Integrated non-destructive approaches to under-
management. In the most recent book by Imma stand and valorise complex archaeological sites’
Ollich-Castanyer, A rchaeology, New Approaches that has aimed to join together different resources
in Theory and Techniques (Ollich-Castanyer and skills to improve, refi ne and validate inten-
2012 ), non- destructive approaches and the visu- sive archaeological surveys on complex sites,
alisation and valorisation of complex sites do not with a special focus on abandoned ancient urban
get any attention. About ‘cyberarchaeology’ and sites in the Mediterranean.
1 Good Practice in Archaeological Diagnostics: An Introduction 3
To fulfi l the objectives of the programme, the is stated that ‘to preserve the archaeological heri-
consortium of seven partners was composed of tage and guarantee the scientifi c signifi cance of
academic institutions, University of Évora (P), archaeological research work, each Party under-
Ghent University (B), University of Ljubljana takes: … to ensure … that non-destructive meth-
(SL) and the British School at Rome (UK), and ods of investigation are applied wherever
private companies, 7Reasons Media Agency (A), possible’. Cultural heritage management authori-
Past2Present (NL) and Eastern Atlas (D). ties will benefi t widely from this approach as
The Radio-Past project has sought to integrate such integrated surveys of complex sites will
different methodologies in the widely developed provide them with a very effective tool for gaug-
fi eld of non-destructive survey technologies as ing the degree of archaeological survival on sites
applied to archaeology, and it has also pursued in their care and for choosing appropriate conser-
the validation of the results through innovative vation strategies.
methods of visualisation and the development of The operative strategy that the consortium
strategies for the effi cient management of the decided to apply is the creation of ‘open laborato-
cultural heritage sites studied. One of the main ries’, that is, archaeological sites where fi eldwork
objectives of this project was to allow a multi- was ongoing over several years, if not decades,
plicity of methods and research approaches and and where the partners were involved at different
to generate methodological guidelines for archae- levels. These sites are spread over the
ological diagnostics. The idea was to develop a Mediterranean, including the Atlantic Lusitania
standard set of survey approaches, based on a ( Ammaia in Portugal), the Tyrrhenian coasts
series of already widely used methods as well as ( Mariana in Corsica and Portus at the mouth of
more innovative methods such as active low- the River Tiber), Adriatic Italy (Potenza Valley),
altitude aerial photography, geophysical prospec- the Aegean Sea (Boeotia) and reaching beyond
tion, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) surveys the Alps to Carnuntum along the Danube
and geomorphological observations, which can (Austria). The idea was to test and validate meth-
in the future be effi ciently used in a comparable odologies and strategies and discuss results and
and integrated way on a wide range of complex interpretations. The Roman town of A mmaia was
sites in Europe. the most important ‘open lab’ of the project; here,
Furthermore, the project was also concur- all the teams gathered periodically for survey
rently targeting the development of effective sci- campaigns and carried out processing, interpreta-
entifi c systems for the dissemination of survey tion and visualisation and even training activi-
results. In particular, the combination of high- ties. Strategies for the validation of the results
resolution fi eldwork with computer-based means were developed in all the partner institutions,
of mapping and data visualisation allows the vir- while dissemination activities were conducted
tual reconstruction of buried towns or large set- regularly at all levels.
tlements within a relatively short space of time, For this reason, the Ammaia case study has
as opposed to the more traditional excavation- played a key role in some of the papers col-
centred approach where it can take generations lected here. However, we have always been
before a broader view of the site becomes concerned to develop standards and guidelines
available. for good practice that can be extended to every
With these aims in mind, a link-up was pur- type of ‘complex archaeological site’. It is
sued between the project and the EU policies for undoubtedly true that all archaeological sites
cultural heritage and landscape management. are complex, but we would like to stress here
The core fi eld research done within the frame- that by this defi nition we mean large settle-
work of Radio-Past is fully compliant with ments where structures, buildings and infra-
Article 3 (ib) of the European Convention on the structures are developed and where a long
Protection of Archaeological Heritage, better occupation has possibly brought with it trans-
known as the Treaty of La Valletta 1992, where it formations and overlapping changes.