Excavation

Question 1

In what cases is excavation not possible?

Answer 1

• danger zones
• difficult to access
• undesirable to excavate - cultural
• study of an entire region
• only used on known sites

Question 2

What is ground reconnaissance

Answer 2

• walking and marking artifacts with flags on the surface

Question 3

What are some geophysical methods?

Answer 3

• non-invasive, works with the principles of the earth (conductivity, electrical resistivity, magnetism)
• GPR - return of electromagnetic impulses

Question 4

How was GPR used at Pompeii?

Answer 4

• areas left un-excavated assumed to be the poor district
• found a large two-story building, circular fountain or mountain, unknown triangular formation
• contradicted the idea that this was poor district

Question 5

What is aerial reconnaissance and what is a case study in which it was used?

Answer 5

• visual id from the air
• used in the 2018 UK drought to identified 100s of stone structures through color changes in soil composition due to disturbances underground

Question 6

What is LiDAR and what is a case study in which it was used?

Answer 6

• airplane with GPS sending 1000s of impulses per second to the grounds (length of return = surface depth)
• used in Cambodia and the Guatemalan Maya Biosphere Reserve in 2018
• revealed approximately 60k Mayan structures underground, much more than previously thought

Question 7

What is infrared satellite imaging and what is a case study where it was used?

Answer 7

• used to detect differences in underground density and moisture
• Used at Tanis, Egypt (mud brick) to reveal a very dense urban area
• used on pits at Dahshur, Egypt to determine where looting had occurred

Question 8

What may be an issue of public databases of aerial images?

Answer 8

illicit use by looters