Remote Sensing for Preservation Archaeology
Abstract
The interdisciplinary integration of data sets from near-surface geophysical surveys, geoarchaeology, and the archaeological analysis of cultural material remains is increasingly being used to answer fundamental anthropological research questions about human behavior, social organization, and cultural change through time. The use of multiple remote sensing methodologies, control experiments to create middle-range analogies to test cultural and natural processes, advanced analysis via spatial statistics and modeling, and ground verification via pedestrian survey and excavation can be used to reduce interpretational uncertainty. The reflexive use of invasive ground verification of geophysical data provides site specific feedback mechanisms to classify archaeological features based upon their quantitative geophysical signature, which increases the efficiency of invasive research. These classifications can be used to create generalized hypotheses to test against similar phenomena at other archaeological sites. This information can be used by land managers and other interested stakeholders to make more informed decisions about future impacts to archaeological landscapes. The long-term goal of this research program is to increase the information content of remote sensing data, thereby decreasing the scale of archaeological excavations to preserve these nonrenewable archaeological resources for future generations. Several case studies from the Paleoindian to Historic periods in North American archaeology demonstrate the utility of remote sensing to the ethic of preservation archaeology, including landscape scale surveys of Chaco Canyon and Poverty Point UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMNS41A..17D
- Keywords:
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- 0915 Downhole methods;
- EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS;
- 0925 Magnetic and electrical methods;
- EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS;
- 0935 Seismic methods;
- EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS;
- 0205 Archaeological geology;
- GEOHEALTH