Skip to main content

An Overview of the Application of Remote Sensing to Archaeology During the Twentieth Century

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Mapping Archaeological Landscapes from Space

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Archaeology ((BRIEFSARCHHERIT,volume 5))

Abstract

Powered flight was perfected at the dawn of the twentieth century and ­provided us with a bird’s eye view of large swaths of landscape for the first time in human history. Over the course of the twentieth century, this bird’s eye view expanded to space, as the frontier of powered flight was pushed, literally, to the moon. This chapter overviews the role that advances in aerial photography and imaging and spaceborne photography and imaging played in the advancement of archaeological research in the twentieth century. It is noted that through the twentieth century most applications of remote sensing to archaeology have involved data from one remote sensing platform at a time. As the century came to a close, and new remote sensing technologies such as LiDAR were being introduced to archaeology, some started to realize that the most promising aspect of applying these technologies to archaeology may be how they can be integrated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, R. E. W., Brown, W. E., & Culbert, T. P. (1981). Radar mapping, archeology, and ancient Maya land use. Science, 213(4515), 1457–1463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beazeley, G. A. (1919). Air photography in archaeology. The Geographical Journal, 53(5), 330–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blom, R., Clapp, N., Zarins, J., & Hedges, G. R. (1997). Space technology and the discovery of the Lost City of Ubar. IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, 1, 19–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford, J., & Williams-Hunt, P. (1946). Siticulosa Apulia. Antiquity, 20, 191–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, V. J. (1945). Air photography in the Far East. Nature, 156(409), 604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comfort, A. (1997). Satellite remote sensing and archaeological survey on the Euphrates. Archaeological Computing Newsletter, 48, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, O. G. S. (1923). Air survey in archaeology. The Geographical Journal, 61(5), 342–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Custer, J. F. (1986). Applications of Landsat data and synoptic remote sensing to predictive models for prehistoric archaeological sites: An example from the Delaware coastal plain. American Antiquity, 51(3), 572–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denevan, W. M. (1993). The 1931 Shippee-Johnson aerial photography expedition to Peru. Geographical Review, 83(3), 238–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Baz, F. (1997). Space age archaeology. Scientific American, 277, 60–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, D., Pottier, C., Fletcher, R., Hensely, S., Tapley, I., Milnes, A., & Barbetti, M. (2007). A comprehensive archaeological map of the world’s largest preindustrial settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia. PNAS, 104(36), 14277–14282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, M. J. F. (1996). High-resolution satellite imagery in archaeological application: A Russian satellite photograph of the Stonehenge region. Antiquity, 70(1996), 667–671.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, M. J. F. (2004). Archaeology through the keyhole: The serendipity effect of aerial reconnaissance revisited. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 29(2), 118–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giardino, M. J. (2011). A history of NASA remote sensing contributions to archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(2011), 2003–2009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, A., & Nguyễn, T. Đ. (2011). Khảo cổ học Trường lũy: 5 năm nghiên cứu [The archaeology of the Long Wall: 5 years of research] in Những phát hiện mới về khảo cổ học năm 2010 [New archaeological discoveries in 2010] (pp. 17–19). Hanoi: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holcomb, D. (2001). Imaging radar and archaeological survey: An example from the Gobi Desert of Southern Mongolia. Journal of Field Archaeology, 28(1–2), 131–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, J. R. (2000). Remote sensing of the environment: An Earth resource perspective. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • St Joseph, J. K. (1945). Air photography and archaeology. The Geographical Journal, 105(1/2), 47–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. (1998). Declassified satellite photographs and archaeology in the Middle East: Case studies from Turkey. Antiquity, 72(277), 553–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lasaponara, R., & Masini, N. (2011). Satellite remote sensing in archaeology: Past, present and future perspectives. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 1995–2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lillesand, T. M., Kiefer, R., & Chipman, J. W. (2008). Remote sensing and interpretation (6th ed.). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCauley, J. F., Schaber, G. G., Breed, C. S., Grolier, M. J., Haynes, C. V., Issawi, B., Elachi, C., & Bloom, R. (1982). Subsurface valleys and geoarchaeology of the eastern Sahara revealed by shuttle radar. Science, 218(4576), 1004–1020.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley, J. F., Breed, C. S., Schaber, G. G., McHugh, W. P., Issawi, B., Haynes, C. V., Grolier, M. J., & El Kilani, A. (1986). Paleodrainages of the eastern Sahara – The radar rivers revisited (SIR-A/B implications for a mid-tertiary trans-African drainage system). IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, GE24(4), 624–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meighan, C. W., Pendergst, D. M., Swartz, B. K., & Wissler, M. D. (1958). Ecological interpretation in archaeology: Part 1. American Antiquity, 24(1), 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montufo, A. M. (1997). The use of satellite and digital image processing in landscape archaeology. A case study from the Island of Mallorca, Spain. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, 12(1), 71–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, E. (2009). The Williams-Hunt collection: Aerial photographs and cultural landscapes in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Sari: International Journal of the Malay World and Civlization, 27(2), 265–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, G. B. (1947). New Zealand archaeology and air photography. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 56(3), 233–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parcak, S. H. (2009). Satellite remote sensing for archaeology. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, K. O., & Dahlin, B. H. (1989). Ancient Maya wetland agriculture: New insights from ecological and remote sensing research. Journal of Field Archaeology, 16, 87–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricketson, O., & Kidder, A. V. (1930). An archaeological reconnaissance by air in Central America. Geographical Review, 20(2), 177–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Showalter, P. S. (1993). A thematic mapper analysis of the prehistoric Hohokam canal system, Phoenix, Arizona. Journal of Field Archaeology, 20(1), 77–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, H. H. (1945). Recent developments in air photography. Nature, 156(3962), 409–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ur, J. (2003). CORONA satellite photography and ancient road networks: A northern Mesopotamian case study. Antiquity, 77(295), 102–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wendorf, F., Close, A. E., & Schild, R. (1987). A survey of the Egyptian radar channels: An example of applied archaeology. Journal of Field Archaeology, 14(1), 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman, J. R., & El-Baz, F. (2007). Remote sensing and archaeology. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Leisz, S.J. (2013). An Overview of the Application of Remote Sensing to Archaeology During the Twentieth Century. In: Mapping Archaeological Landscapes from Space. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology(), vol 5. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6074-9_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics