Seeing the Unseen Geophysics and Landscape Archaeology

378 Pages·2008·20.11 MB·English

by  Stefano Campana

SEEING THE UNSEEN

Seeing the Unseen
Geophysics and Landscape Archaeology
Editors
Stefano Campana
Department of Archaeology and History of Arts,
University of Siena, Italy
Salvatore Piro
Institute of Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage -
National Research Council, Italy
University “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
Front cover caption
Part of the vast geophysical survey sponsored by English Heritage in the Vale of Pickering,
reflecting landscape continuity from the Neolithic to medieval periods.
Copyright D. Powlesland and The Landscape Research Centre
CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK
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Published by: CRC Press/Balkema
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www.crcpress.com – www.taylorandfrancis.co.uk – www.balkema.nl
ISBN: 978-0-415-44721-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-88955-8 (ebook)
This book is dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Riccardo
Francovich, of the University of Siena. His inspiration, encouragement
and ever-helpful criticism were an inestimable gift to all who took part as
teachers or students in the International Summer Schools project

Seeing the Unseen – Campana & Piro (eds)
© 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-44721-8
Table of Contents
List of lecturers ix
List of students xi
Program of the school xiii
Preface xvii
Introduction xxi
Acknowledgments xxv
Theoretical Section
Introduction to landscape archaeology, mapping and geophysical prospection
Archaeological site detection and mapping: Some thoughts on differing scales
of detail and archaeological ‘non-visibility’ 5
S. Campana
Introduction to geophysics for archaeology 27
S. Piro
Electrical methods
Electrical and magnetic methods in archaeological prospection 67
A. Schmidt
Electrical resistivity tomography: A flexible technique in solving problems
of archaeological research 83
G.N. Tsokas, P.I. Tsourlos & N. Papadopoulos
Theory and practice of the new fast electrical imaging system ARP© 105
M. Dabas
Magnetic methods
Caesium-magnetometry for landscape-archaeology 129
H. Becker
Why bother? Large scale geomagnetic survey and the quest for “Real Archaeology” 167
D. Powlesland
The complementary nature of geophysical survey methods 183
M. Watters
The use of geophysical techniques in landscape studies: Experience from the
commercial sector 201
C. Gaffney
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Electromagnetic methods
Short history, strategies and practical aspects of electromagnetic detection based
on the description of field 207
A. Hesse
Electromagnetic methods (low frequency) 217
A. Tabbagh
Ground penetrating radar
GPR methods for archaeology 229
D. Goodman
Ground-penetrating radar for landscape archaeology: Method and applications 245
L.B. Conyers
Comparative geophysical survey results in Japan: Focusing on kiln and building remains 257
Y. Nishimura
Field Work Section
Test site background and outcome of the Aiali project 271
S. Campana & S. Piro
Remote sensing: Aerial photography and satellite imagery 273
S. Campana
Geophysical surveys 279
S. Campana & S. Piro
Fluxgate, overhouser and caesium-magnetometry 283
H. Becker, S. Campana, T. Himmler & I. Nicolosi
Electrical surveys 289
S. Campana, M. Dabas & G. Morelli
Electromagnetic survey (EM38 Geonics ltd) 293
A. Tabbagh
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys at Aiali (Grosseto) 297
D. Goodman & S. Piro
Field walking survey, artifact collection and analysis: Remarks of site development
from late republican period to middle ages 303
E. Vaccaro, M. Ghisleni & S. Campana
Putting everything together: GIS-based data integration and interpretation 325
S. Campana & S. Piro
Author index 331
Colour plates 335
viii
Seeing the Unseen – Campana & Piro (eds)
© 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-44721-8
List of lecturers
Helmut Becker – Bavarian State Conservation Office-Munich-GERMANY
Stefano Campana – University of Siena-ITALY
Lawrence Conyers – University of Denver-USA
Michel Dabas – University of Paris-FRANCE
Chris Gaffney – Remote Vision Research-UK
Dean Goodman – Geophysical Archaeometry Laboratory-USA
Albert Hesse – University Pierre et Marie Curie-FRANCE
Gianfranco Morelli – Geostudi Astier-ITALY
Iacopo Nicolosi – National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology-ITALY
Yasushi Nishimura – National Research Institute for Cultural Properties-JAPAN
Salvatore Piro – ITABC - National Research Council-ITALY
Dominc Powlesland – Landscape Research Centre-UK
Armin Schmidt – University of Bradford-UK
Alain Tabbagh – University Pierre et Marie Curie-FRANCE
Gregory Tsokas – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki-GREECE
Meg Watters – University of Birmingham-UK
ix