Remote Sensing and Archaeological Prospection in Apulia, Italy

When deployed in combination with ground control, archaeological surface survey, and environmental research, remote sensing based upon high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery allows large areas to be evaluated efficiently by a small team of researchers and contributes to a better understandi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of field archaeology 2009, Vol.34 (4), p.423-437
Main Authors: Ross, Shawn A., Sobotkova, Adela, Burgers, Gert-Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural soils
Archaeological sites
Archaeological surveys
Archaeology
Artificial satellites
Europe
Excavation and methods
Field archaeology
Field method
Field Reports: Excavation and Survey
Generalities
Image analysis
Methodology and general studies
Pedestrian surveys
Prehistory and protohistory
Remote sensing
Soil water
South West Europe
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Summary:When deployed in combination with ground control, archaeological surface survey, and environmental research, remote sensing based upon high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery allows large areas to be evaluated efficiently by a small team of researchers and contributes to a better understanding of an archaeological landscape. In 2007 and 2008, we analyzed ca. 100 sq km of imagery centered on L'Amastuola, Italy. Combining the evaluation of high-resolution multispectral imagery with concurrent ground control led to the discovery of 29 sites and significant off-site scatters during about four weeks of fieldwork. Our analysis indicates that most of the detected features reflect geological conditions amenable to past human habitation rather than subsurface archaeological remains. Earlier fieldwork by the Murge Tableland Survey (MTS) provided independent definitions for various types of sites and a large sample of sites and off-site scatters in the study area. Comparison of our remote-sensing guided efforts with the results of that survey suggests that our success rate is too high to be explained by random association and also illuminates the strengths and weaknesses of the respective methods, underscoring the need to integrate satellite image analysis with ground control and surface survey.
ISSN:0093-4690
2042-4582
DOI:10.1179/009346909791070826