Archaeological aerial thermography: a case study at the Chaco-era Blue J community, New Mexico

Despite a long history of studies that demonstrate the potential of aerial thermography to reveal surface and subsurface cultural features, technological and cost barriers have prevented the widespread application of thermal imaging in archaeology. This paper presents a method for collection of high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of archaeological science 2014-05, Vol.45, p.207-219
Main Authors: Casana, Jesse, Kantner, John, Wiewel, Adam, Cothren, Jackson
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
America and Arctic regions
American civilisations
Ancestral Puebloans
Archaeo-geophysics
Art and archaeology
LWIR
North America
Photogrammetry
Prehistory and protohistory
Pueblos
Thermal imaging
UAV
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Summary:Despite a long history of studies that demonstrate the potential of aerial thermography to reveal surface and subsurface cultural features, technological and cost barriers have prevented the widespread application of thermal imaging in archaeology. This paper presents a method for collection of high-resolution thermal imagery using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), as well as a means to efficiently process and orthorectify imagery using photogrammetric software. To test the method, aerial surveys were conducted at the Chaco-period Blue J community in northwestern New Mexico. Results enable the size and organization of most habitation sites to be readily mapped, and also reveal previously undocumented architectural features. Our easily replicable methodology produces data that rivals traditional archaeological geophysics in terms of feature visibility, but which can be collected very rapidly, over large areas, with minimal cost and processing requirements. •We present a method for collection of aerial thermal imagery using a UAV.•We discuss approaches for processing and orthorectification of thermal imagery.•We present results of a survey at the Chaco-period Blue J community in New Mexico.•Thermal imagery reveals surface features and subsurface architectural remains.•We outline other potential applications of aerial archaeological thermography.
ISSN:0305-4403
1095-9238
DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.015