Aerial scanning reveals details of ancient sites
Submitted by coldrum on Thursday, 27 March 2008 Page Views: 1617
Pre-ContactCountry: United States One of the newest tools in the archaeologist's kit is aerial laser scanning, sometimes referred to as Light Detection And Ranging, or LiDAR. It works a bit like radar, but instead of using radio waves, it uses infrared laser pulses. The echoes can "see" through trees and shrubs, revealing the precise contours of the ground surface.In the April issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, University of Vienna archaeologist Michael Doneus and colleagues report the results of a LiDAR survey of the Iron Age hill fort of Purbach in eastern Austria.
They were able to map the earthwork in stunning detail, including shallow depressions caused by looting. They even found the remains of mounds less than 8 inches tall that "had been missed by the original trained surveyors in the field."
And over in Ohio, archaeologists William Romain and Jarrod Burks, with the support of Ohio State University's Newark Earthworks Center, are using LiDAR to study the remnants of the Newark Earthworks.
In two reports published online, they describe the earthworks and their topographic situation in unprecedented detail, permitting insights into how the earthworks and natural features combined to create a sacred landscape.
Also, Romain and Burks sought and discovered remnants of the so-called "Great Hopewell Road," which consisted of parallel walls of earth extending from Newark's Octagon Earthworks an undetermined distance to the southwest.
LiDAR data revealed the walls had been built by removing earth from the road's surface and piling it up on either side.
They conclude their paper with the observation that "although much of the Native American past has been built over and lost, much remains to be discovered."
LiDAR gives researchers a new tool for making those discoveries.
You can read the papers by Romain and Burks at www.ohioarchaeology.org/joomla.
Source: Columbus Dispatch.
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.