Remote Sensing applications in archaeology

Abstract

In recent years Remote Sensing applications in archaeology have become increasingly frequent. This plurality of applications depends mostly on the rising interest of the scientific community in modern methods for surveying geographic data, which have become increasingly powerful, automatic and reliable. Remote Sensing, with its various techniques, offers the rapid acquisition of a huge quantity of metric and qualitative data in order to describe or to identify archaeological sites. For an appropriate and widespread use of these data, it is still necessary to have recourse to GIS techniques; as a matter of fact, only the combined use of both methodologies provides a full exploitation of their potential for an in-depth understanding and an effective utilization of data related to an archaeological site. The authors illustrate some case studies concerning use of remote sensed data for cartographic applications and detection of possible buried archaeological structures.