Identifying Shell Middens With Historic Aerial Photos: An Example From California's Santa Cruz Island

Using 1929 aerial photos of western Santa Cruz Island, we identified numerous potential shell midden locations, followed by confirmation of site locations via field reconnaissance. Heavy grazing by sheep, cattle, and pigs closely cropped island vegetation in the early twentieth century, exposing shell middens now often covered with thick vegetation. We discuss the potential and limitations of early aerial photos as aids to archaeological site identification and management in island and coastal settings. Although results varied from island to island, we found historic aerial photos to be extremely useful for documenting previously unrecorded sites on Santa Cruz Island, ranging from historical EuroAmerican sites to Island Chumash sites dating to as much as 7250 cal BP. These methods may also be applicable to other islands around the world subject to heavy livestock grazing in the past, especially where introduced animals have been removed and recovering vegetation now obscures archaeological sites.     

Detection of archaeological crop marks by using satellite QuickBird multispectral imagery

The capability of satellite QuickBird imagery for the identification of archaeological crop marks is herein presented and discussed for two test sites located in the South of Italy. The selected sites, dating back to Middle Ages, were buried under surfaces covered by herbaceous plants characterized by a different phenological status (dry/green) when the satellite data were acquired.     

New discoveries in the Piramide Naranjada in Cahuachi (Peru) using satellite,Ground Probing Radar and magnetic investigations

The detection of buried earthen structures by using remote sensing techniques is still an open issue and a strategic challenge as crucial as it is complex. It is crucial because earthen archaeological remains are widely present thoughtout the world (in South America, Asia, Africa) and it is complex due to the subtle physical contrast between earthen remains and the surrounding subsoil.     

Underwater Archaeology on Foot: a Systematic Rapid Foreshore Survey on the North Kent Coast, England

Foreshore archaeology can be considered 'underwater archaeology on foot', because it is possible to investigate the archaeological heritage at low tide without the need for diving. Rising sea-levels, increasing coastal erosion and the loss of important foreshore environments make immediate action necessary. In 2005, Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Kent County Council, supported by English Heritage, to continue a Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey on the North Kent Coast as part of a project started in 2001. In four weeks 378 monuments were updated and 198 new monuments recorded, among them a submerged forest, a trackway, several fish-traps and shipwrecks.
© 2007 The Authors     

我国科技考古研究的新进展

根据第九届全国科技考古学术讨论会上所报告和收到的103篇论文的内容,对我国科技考古的进展作一简要介绍.内容涉及生物考古和农业考古、年代测定、陶瓷考古、冶金考古、玉器及玻璃器的产地和结构分析以及环境考古、遥感考古和文物保护等.这些论文的内容充分展示了近些年来我国科技考古研究的最新成果和动态,全面反映了我国科技考古研究的发展方向.     

Sound Methods: The Necessity of High-resolution Geophysical Data for Planning Deepwater Archaeological Projects

The availability of deepwater survey technology allows researchers to work more readily in waters beyond conventional diving limits and makes possible an increased number of historical shipwreck projects. Several deepwater historical wreck sites are being investigated, some are being archaeologically mapped, and a few are even being excavated. Conducting a deepwater archaeological project to acceptable archaeological standards requires extensive and complex pre-investigation planning; otherwise, valuable data could be lost, as well as expensive ship and sub time wasted. High-resolution geophysical survey data must be a part of this planning process. Utilization of this type of data gives the planning scientists a better overall understanding of the site, which is essential in formulating valid field methodology. Drawing on examples from actual deepwater projects, this article discusses why high-resolution geophysical data is essential to the planning process, the means and methods used to collect the data, and how this data is integrated into the planning process to produce a feasible field project plan.     

Revolutionary archaeology in Cuba

The Revolution of 1959 brought forth changes in the mission, theoretical orientation, and organization of archaeology in Cuba and created a role for, and constraints on, the profession that are unique in the Western Hemisphere. This paper draws upon examples from substantive field and laboratory research to examine the methods and theoretical perspectives of Cuban archaeology since the Revolution, focusing on the period from 1962 until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Archaeological practice during the Revolutionary period in Cuba has reflected the aims of the Revolutionary government, the influence of Soviet archaeology, the legacy of pre-Revolutionary approaches in North American archaeology, and the Cuban sense ofpatria.     

遥感与地理信息系统在城市考古中的实践

遥感与地理信息系统是城市考古研究中重要的技术手段。借助遥感技术,在识别遗迹的基础上,首先可以对城址开展地图测量,确保研究数据的准确性,其次可以获取不同精度的地形地貌数据,从宏观和微观层面分析城址的空间环境和布局结构,最终可以为城市复原研究提供线索,提高田野考古工作的效率和精度。在地理信息系统应用方面,本文提出了"城市圈"的概念,将城址与周边遗址和自然环境纳入同一个空间集合进行考察,可以充分发挥地理信息系统的空间分析功能,行之有效的剖析城市空间属性所反映出的人地关系和社会关系。     

Household Archaeology in the Andes

Data from domestic contexts can be used to address significant anthropological research questions. Archaeological investigations in the Andes (areas once incorporated into the Inka empire, including northwestern Argentina, highland Bolivia, northern Chile, Ecuador, and Peru), like many parts of the world, rely on ethnohistory and ethnography to interpret the archaeological remains of domestic areas and make inferences about households. In this review I describe the ideas about Andean households that archaeologists are using and how domestic remains are being examined to infer social, economic, and political processes. Household archaeology in the Andes requires ethnoarchaeology and theory-building in order to understand the complex social dynamics at the foundation of ancient Andean societies.     

Evaluation of very high to medium resolution multispectral satellite imagery for geoarchaeology in arid regions – Case study from Jabali,Yemen

Archaeological research of the ancient Jabali silver mines (7th to 14th centuries ad) in northern Yemen is a multidisciplinary project covering scientific disciplines traditionally related to archaeology, a geological approach and new technologies such as very high resolution remote sensing. Mining companies envisage the development of the Jabali deposit for zinc ore. Some of the planned facilities, particularly a large open pit, will have a destructive impact on the old pits and processing heaps, already damaged by recent works. In the present study, remote sensing is used for a detailed survey of the impact of preliminary mining works from the early 1980’s with the aim to establish archaeological remains and to prioritize areas for future ground surveys, as well as for geological mapping. Results indicate that mapping using remote sensing in the visible to short wave infrared range has a great potential for the identification of gossans (iron caps) possibly related to archaeological remains. The phases of work in Jabali are clearly put into light by the study of a time series of Landsat data. Very high resolution QuickBird imagery appears particularly relevant for mapping most of the archaeological remnants, iron caps, as well as the 3D visualization of the mining site when drapped over a detailed digital elevation model.     

Contours of the Past: LiDAR Data Expands the Limits of Late Pre-Columbian Human Settlement in the Santarém Region,Lower Amazon

Recent studies have shown that pre-Columbian societies in the Amazon undertook significant landscape modifications, including earthworks. Our fieldwork has revealed that pre-Columbian settlements in the Santarém Region, Lower Amazon, were not limited to the vicinities of permanent water courses, as formerly often assumed. Instead, numerous archaeological sites, dating from ca. a.d. 1300 up to the time of European colonization in the seventeenth century, have been found in an upland area known as the Belterra Plateau, south of the present-day city of Santarém. These upland sites have been found to be associated with particular features in the landscape: cavities or depressions, known locally as “Poços de Água”. LiDAR data shows that a pattern of non-randomly distributed depressions extends far into the densely forested Tapajós National Forest (Flona-Tapajós), allowing us to suggest that the expansion of inland settlement extended considerably farther to the south than what has previously been established through conventional archaeological fieldwork.