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Morphometric analysis and detection of invisible archaeological elements by spectral treatment of digital images

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe the creation of a method to apply digital image treatment, consisting of a combination of filters and algorhythms, to prehistoric rock carvings, to enhance the information obtained from them. In the experimental phase a study was made of a laboratory piece and two highly valuable pieces of cave art from the Tamanart Valley in Morocco and the Casares Cave in Guadalajara, Spain. The results clearly demonstrate the potential of the proposed digital methodas information was obtained that could not have been achieved by the traditional techniques.

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Acknowledgments

The present work was carried out within the Project “Prospection and Documentation of Cave Art Sites in the Tamanart Valley (Tata Province in the Guelmin Smara Region)”, directed by Dr. Martí MasCornellá, UNED, and financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture; also within the project HAR2012-36549 “Segeda y la Serranía Celtibérica: De la Investigación Interdisciplinar al Desarrollo de un Territorio” financed by the Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness, directed by Dr. Francisco Burillo Mozota of the University of Zaragoza.

We should also like to express our gratitude to Dr. Enrique Couceiro for his collaboration in creating the carvings used in the training phase of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ETSI en Topografía, Cartografía y Geodesia, Technical University of Madrid, Ctra. Valencia Km 7, 28031, Madrid, Spain

    Aroa Gutiérrez Alonso & Mercedes Farjas Abadía

  2. Department of Applied Geoinformatics and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamycka 1176, 165 21 Prague 6, Suchdol, Czech Republic

    José Antonio Domínguez Gómez

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  1. Aroa Gutiérrez Alonso
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Correspondence to Aroa Gutiérrez Alonso.

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Gutiérrez Alonso, A., Farjas Abadía, M. & Domínguez Gómez, J.A. Morphometric analysis and detection of invisible archaeological elements by spectral treatment of digital images. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 647–656 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0360-x

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