遥感考古——探索人类文化遗产的新手段

遥感考古与传统田野考古相比具有诸多优势,且应用广泛,为考古学研究提供了科技新手段,将考古学研究推向一个崭新的平台。     

Geographical Applications of Remote Sensing

A review of remote sensing applications in geographical research, based mainly on United States publications.     

The Limits of Geopolitical Remote Sensing

Two Finnish scholars provide critical commentary on a paper on Finland's identity politics and national identity, published in a 2005 issue of Eurasian Geography and Economics (Antonsich, 2005). In the process, they criticize the practice of "geopolitical remote sensing" more generally, arguing that it is symptomatic of a broader methodological problem in human geography. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O52, Z13. 17 references.     

Remote Sensing and Archaeological Prospection in Apulia,Italy

Abstract

When deployed in combination with ground control, archaeological surface survey, and environmental research, remote sensing based upon high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery allows large areas to be evaluated efficiently by a small team of researchers and contributes to a better understanding of an archaeological landscape. In 2007 and 2008, we analyzed ca. 100 sq km of imagery centered on L'Amastuola, Italy. Combining the evaluation of high-resolution multispectral imagery with concurrent ground control led to the discovery of 29 sites and significant off-site scatters during about four weeks of fieldwork. Our analysis indicates that most of the detected features reflect geological conditions amenable to past human habitation rather than subsurface archaeological remains. Earlier fieldwork by the Murge Tableland Survey (MTS) provided independent definitions for various types of sites and a large sample of sites and off-site scatters in the study area. Comparison of our remote-sensing guided efforts with the results of that survey suggests that our success rate is too high to be explained by random association and also illuminates the strengths and weaknesses of the respective methods, underscoring the need to integrate satellite image analysis with ground control and surface survey.     

The Role of Remote Sensing in Ethnohistorical Research

Abstract

Recent changes in ethnohistorical theory and methods have necessitated new research strategies. Remote sensing technology has a great deal to offer in constructing new research methods and consequently can play an important role in this transition. It is important, however, that the researcher first attempt to “demystify” remote sensing. This can be accomplished by learning the intricacies of various sensors and noting previous applications within ethnohistory, archaeology, and related fields. It is also important that the scholar know that national and international archival sources of imagery and aerial photography exist.     

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。     

Tracing Settlement Patterns and Channel Systems in Southern Mesopotamia Using Remote Sensing

Abstract

The integration of spatial datasets from historical satellite imagery, digital elevation models (DEMs), and past archaeological surveys provides new insights into the nature and remains of past landscape transformations. Using southern Mesopotamia as a case study, this article addresses, both quantitatively and qualitatively, long-held assumptions concerning the nature and relationship of settlement patterns and river channel systems in antiquity. GIS and image analysis are used to fill in gaps in the settlement record and propose a revised location for the Tigris River during most of antiquity. Given that only one-third of the central alluvial plain had been ground surveyed in southern Mesopotamia, how complete was our picture of landscape and settlement? How could gaps in settlement be interpreted? The present work in the area east of Baghdad suggests that archaeologists and historians have underestimated the nature and movements of the Tigris River. Satellite imagery can help reveal the location of the Tigris River prior to its settling into its modern course, shedding light on its potential role in the rise of early Mesopotamian agricultural societies. The work presented here proposes a methodology for unweaving and mapping preserved pieces of ancient landscapes, addressing larger issues of human modification of the landscape.     

Remote Sensing,Land Quotas and Mass Relocation: China's Governance of Farmland

There is increasing interest in understanding China's environmental governance through the lens of governmentality. This article contributes to that discussion by using the Foucauldian analytical apparatuses of discipline and security to understand China's governance of farmland. It argues that the Chinese state applies these two apparatuses simultaneously: on the one hand, it disciplines and deters local states from illegal land grabs by utilizing surveillance tools such as remote sensing and national land surveys; on the other hand, it relies on indirect governance through the land quota market to achieve grain security, transforming both local states and peasants into autonomous market players, and reconstructing China's rural landscape by launching mass peasant relocation programmes. The study also reveals the contingent effects of those power tactics: the state's governance is compromised by the local states’ counter‐conduct, such as data fabrication and concealment, and by the peasants’ denial of their new subjectivity as market players. When the tactics are effective, as in the case of local states actively assuming roles of land quota producers and traders, the villages and peasant households suffer from deprivation of land rights.     

Satellite Remote Sensing of Archaeological Vegetation Signatures in Coastal West Africa

This article discusses how archaeological sites in Sierra Leone, and by extension much of West Africa, can be identified through vegetation patterns (vegetation signatures) detectable in very high-resolution (VHR) multispectral satellite imagery. Settlement sites typically have a differing pattern of vegetation from the surrounding landscape, including concentrations of very large trees with sociocultural and historical significance: cotton (Ceiba pentandra) and baobab (Adansonia digitata). These features are conspicuous elements of the landscape both from the ground and in aerial imagery. Two complementary methods of using VHR multispectral satellite imagery are discussed in this paper: visual interpretation and semi-automated subpixel classification. These techniques are aiding ongoing archaeological survey of the Sierra Leone River Estuary. The impact of recently renewed industrial activity at a site of probable archaeological significance is also assessed through visually interpreted VHR satellite imagery.     

Contributions of GIS and Satellite-based Remote Sensing to Landscape Archaeology in the Middle East

This article explores the coevolution of landscape approaches and geospatial tools in Middle Eastern archaeology. From the first aerial reconnaissance programs, archaeologists recognized the value of a view from above to address overarching human–environmental questions that underpin regional historical narratives. The diversity and density of visible remains in the landscape of the Middle East has required an integrative approach, encompassed in the perspective of landscape as a static artifact, landscape as built features, landscape as a system, and landscape as a dynamic construct, which cuts across modern political boundaries. Recent advances in geospatial tools and datasets have enabled archaeologists to make significant progress on four long-standing questions of how to (1) best document and manage rapidly disappearing ancient landscapes, (2) understand landscape formation processes, (3) identify and interpret economic, environmental, and social influences that result in long-term settlement and land use patterns, and (4) recognize and contextualize the interplay between environment and human agency in the evolution of ancient economies and transformations in socio-organizational complexity.     

In Defense of "Geopolitical Remote Sensing": Reply to Moisio and Harle

The author of a recently published paper on Finland's identity politics and national identity (Antonsich, 2005) responds to comments presented in the preceding paper in this issue of Eurasian Geography and Economics (Moisio and Harle, 2006). The rejoinder focuses on the nature of place knowledge acquired "in place" versus "at distance" as well as on more specific differences in perspective (e.g., use of sources, terminology, critical geopolitcs). Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O52, Z13, 14 references.     

Satellite Remote Sensing Methods for Monitoring Archaeological Tells in the Middle East

Abstract

Using a variety of types of satellite imagery (SPOT, Corona, Landsat, and Quickbird) and concentrating on archaeological sites in the Egyptian floodplain, this paper proposes methods for monitoring the rate of archaeological site destruction in the Middle East. This image analysis shows how tells can be documented and monitored from computers anywhere in the world, emphasizing the multispectral capabilities and applications of satellites. The effects of population growth, looting, urban expansion, and war on archaeological sites in Egypt are reviewed, and a system is proposed to record sites by focusing on their individual spectral profiles. The analysis demonstrates how satellite imagery analysis can be applied to similar flood plain environments in Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq.     

The Geography of Population and the Geography of Services

In discussing a methodology for a geography of services, a new branch of Soviet geographic research, the authors propose geographically meaningful classifications of services, the use of value and labor-input indicators, the problem of a typology of service regions, and other aspects of research in this new discipline. The geography of services is found to be closely related to population geography because of the correlation between the distribution of services and the distribution of population.     

A Geography of Consumption and a Geography of Services

Professor Kovalev, a specialist in rural settlement, proposes the development of two new branches of economic geography in the Soviet Union that would be concerned with the study of regional differences in consumption and services. The proposal reflects the increasing concern of the Soviet party and government for raising the living standards of the population. Kovalev discusses a number of methodological problems, such as the availability of data.     

方志与地志是历史与地理之母

方志的概念诞生于周朝,名日方志,实为古史。历史的概念是由最初的“史”官名,到唐代以“史”命书名,再到明代末年将历与史合成书名,形成今之历史学名。地志是地图、地记、图经、地理总志等书的总称,方志的一种。地理与地志同源共体,只是近代才从地志中脱胎而出,分化独立。因此说,方志与地志是历史与地理之母。     

Large-Area Remote Sensing Coverage of Archaeological Sites with a Dual-Track Cart-Mounted Cesium Magnetometer

Abstract

This paper describes the benefits of collecting total field magnetic data at archaeological sites with a mobile cart holding two cesium magnetometer sensors and a separate stationary base station magnetometer to correct for global-scale magnetic fluctuations. To date, the Texas Historical Commission has surveyed 40 sites from various time periods and geographical settings in Texas. The cart has allowed rapid surveys over large areas while minimizing signal-degrading noise. Four examples from Texas show that large-area and high-density magnetic surveys can be completed in relatively short periods of time producing maps that aid significantly in archaeological site interpretation. In some instances, no field excavation was required to understand quickly what the magnetic patterns represented in terms of buried archaeological features. In all cases, the magnetometer maps provided important information to help guide future field excavations.     

Geography and development

Economic development and underdevelopment is one aspect of theuneven spatial distribution of economic activity. This paperreviews existing literature on geography and development, andargues that rigorous theoretical and empirical analysis is neededto increase understanding of the role of geography in developmentand to better design development policy. The analytical issuesare: why does economic activity cluster in centers of activity?How do new centers develop? And what are the consequences ofremoteness from existing centers? Empirical evidence comes bothfrom the international context and from studies of internaleconomic geography and urbanization.