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Round Table Discussion
Last modified: 2011-12-22
Abstract
The aim of the discussion will be to exchange ideas and practice between practitioners in the fields of archaeological prospection
(including near-surface geophysics and remote sensing), data management / information architecture, and archaeological visualisation. Our aims for the discussion are to generate crossdisciplinary contacts and foster co-operation and the adoption of innovative practice.
Technological advances in instrumentation and data processing and storage capacities have meant that archaeological prospection is able to generate exponentially larger data sets, covering large tracts of the landscape. In particular, the arrival of '3D' radar acquisition at very high sampling densities (0.08 x 0.08m cells) has created challenges for storing, interpreting and visualising the data. It is now entirely feasible to study whole landscapes by geophysical means, supported by remote
sensing techniques such as Airborne Laser Surveys, Hyperspectral Mapping and Terrestrial Laser Scanning. In the last two years, major projects in the UK (DART- http://dartproject.info/WPBlog/) and Austria (The ArchPro programme at the LBI- http://archpro.lbg.ac.at/) have started. These projects all intersect with GIS, data management, spatial and landscape archaeology, and areas around the visualisation of archaeological interpretations and their presentation to the public. Areas of overlap with the airborne research groups also occur, for example in the field of developing automatic or human-assisted computer based anomaly recognition. At the 9th International conference on Archaeological Prospection in September 2011, it was agreed that CAA was a good
opportunity for dialogue across these fields and exchange of ideas, theories and practice. Whilst the focus has fallen on large scale landscape surveys, there are good examples of data management and dissemination strategies for geophysical data using webmapping approaches from other studies, in
particular the work in the Vale of Pickering by the Landscape Research Centre (http://www.landscaperesearchcentre.org/index.html) , which was largely collected over a long
period of time largely using the traditional 'hand held' manner. We strongly feel that the subdiscipline of archaeological prospection would both be enriched by, and contribute to the
enrichment of, the disciplines mentioned above. We would welcome the participation of anyone who feels their research falls into these categories and could potentially be of use, or who has a geophysical problem (question?) to solve. We would aim for a relatively informal discussion and presentation of problems, solutions and areas of agreement. Ideally, we would hope that such a discussion would feed into 'best practice' documentation by way of groups like the GEOSIG
(http://www.archaeologists.net/groups/geophysics), MAPSIG
(http://www.archaeolandscapes.eu/index.php/news-a-events/news/138-qmethods-inarchaeological-prospectionq-caa-sig.html) and the open methods store
(http://methods.okfn.org/wiki/Main_Page).
There are some great things happening across a number of disciplines. It would be good to listen and debate with those who have similar data and interpretational challenges.
(including near-surface geophysics and remote sensing), data management / information architecture, and archaeological visualisation. Our aims for the discussion are to generate crossdisciplinary contacts and foster co-operation and the adoption of innovative practice.
Technological advances in instrumentation and data processing and storage capacities have meant that archaeological prospection is able to generate exponentially larger data sets, covering large tracts of the landscape. In particular, the arrival of '3D' radar acquisition at very high sampling densities (0.08 x 0.08m cells) has created challenges for storing, interpreting and visualising the data. It is now entirely feasible to study whole landscapes by geophysical means, supported by remote
sensing techniques such as Airborne Laser Surveys, Hyperspectral Mapping and Terrestrial Laser Scanning. In the last two years, major projects in the UK (DART- http://dartproject.info/WPBlog/) and Austria (The ArchPro programme at the LBI- http://archpro.lbg.ac.at/) have started. These projects all intersect with GIS, data management, spatial and landscape archaeology, and areas around the visualisation of archaeological interpretations and their presentation to the public. Areas of overlap with the airborne research groups also occur, for example in the field of developing automatic or human-assisted computer based anomaly recognition. At the 9th International conference on Archaeological Prospection in September 2011, it was agreed that CAA was a good
opportunity for dialogue across these fields and exchange of ideas, theories and practice. Whilst the focus has fallen on large scale landscape surveys, there are good examples of data management and dissemination strategies for geophysical data using webmapping approaches from other studies, in
particular the work in the Vale of Pickering by the Landscape Research Centre (http://www.landscaperesearchcentre.org/index.html) , which was largely collected over a long
period of time largely using the traditional 'hand held' manner. We strongly feel that the subdiscipline of archaeological prospection would both be enriched by, and contribute to the
enrichment of, the disciplines mentioned above. We would welcome the participation of anyone who feels their research falls into these categories and could potentially be of use, or who has a geophysical problem (question?) to solve. We would aim for a relatively informal discussion and presentation of problems, solutions and areas of agreement. Ideally, we would hope that such a discussion would feed into 'best practice' documentation by way of groups like the GEOSIG
(http://www.archaeologists.net/groups/geophysics), MAPSIG
(http://www.archaeolandscapes.eu/index.php/news-a-events/news/138-qmethods-inarchaeological-prospectionq-caa-sig.html) and the open methods store
(http://methods.okfn.org/wiki/Main_Page).
There are some great things happening across a number of disciplines. It would be good to listen and debate with those who have similar data and interpretational challenges.
Keywords
geophysics; integration; workflows; remote sensing; aerial photography; data management; visualisation