Integration of geophysical surveys, ground hyperspectral measurements, aerial and satellite imagery for archaeological prospection of prehistoric sites: the case study of Vésztő-Mágor Tell, Hungary

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.11.001Get rights and content

Abstract

An integration of geophysical surveys, ground hyperspectral data, aerial photographs and high resolution satellite imagery for supporting archaeological investigations at the multi-component Vésztő-Mágor Tell, located in the southeastern Great Hungarian Plain, is presented in this study. This is one of the first times that all these techniques have been combined and evaluated for retrieving archaeological information. Geophysical explorations, specifically magnetic gradiometry and ground penetrating radar methods, have revealed shallow linear anomalies and curvilinear rings at the Tell. The use of remote sensing images has confirmed the diverse anomalies with respect to geophysics through photointerpretation, radiometric and spatial enhancements. Moreover, several indices from ground hyperspectral data also have revealed stress vegetation anomalies. These integrated results were used to map the main areas of archaeological interest at the Vésztő-Mágor Tell and plan future excavations. It was found that these multiscalar data can be used efficiently for detecting buried archaeological features.

Highlights

► The paper presents the results from state of the art remote sensing techniques for supporting archaeological investigations. ► One of the first times that geophysical surveys, ground hyperspectral and satellite data were applied simultaneously. ► The potentials of all these methodologies are been highlighted.

Introduction

This article synthesizes the results of different remote sensing techniques that were used to examine the multi-component Tell site of Vésztő-Mágor in southeastern Europe. Remote sensing observations are well established and widely practised within archaeological research and involve a group of non-destructive methods for discovering and mapping visible and buried archaeological remains (De Laet et al., 2007; Rowlands and Sarris, 2007). Many different techniques have been used for monitoring archaeological sites within their environmental contexts. For instance, Hadjimitsis et al. (2009) have used multi-temporal satellite images and GIS spatial analysis in order to examine the urban growth in the vicinity of archaeological sites in Cyprus. The use of high spatial resolution remote sensing satellite data, has allowed Jahjah et al. (2007) to capture the integral mutations due to human interventions from 1980 to pre-post war, for the archaeological site of Babylon. The potential use of airborne lidar data for recording and monitoring erosion levels in environmentally fragile landscapes, at the Brecon Beacons National Park was recently demonstrated by Kincey and Challis (2010). Moreover, remote sensing techniques may be used for acquiring information regarding the preservation and integrity of monuments or historical buildings (Papadopoulos and Sarris, 2011; Soldovieri et al., 2008) and for risk assessment analysis (Hadjimitsis et al., 2011; Alexakis and Sarris, 2010). Even more, the manifold capabilities of such Earth Observation (EO) techniques have exhibited great potential for archaeological investigations and the technique has accounted for many important archaeological discoveries (Lasaponara and Masini, 2011).

The majority of remote sensing applications related to archaeological investigations are carried out based on aerial photos (oblique or vertical), satellite imagery (e.g. multispectral, hyperspectral, LiDAR) and ground geophysical surveys (Sarris, 2008). Indeed, various studies have shown that aerial and satellite imagery can be well suited for archaeological prospection (e.g. Αltaweel, 2005; Masini and Lasaponara, 2007; Cavalli et al., 2007; Parcak, 2009; Traviglia, 2005; Alexakis et al., 2009, Alexakis et al., 2011). Different applications of satellite remote sensing, field studies and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were employed on archaeological sites in India by Pappu et al. (2010). Airborne LiDAR techniques have been successfully applied by Chase et al. (2011) in investigating a Mayan archaeological site in Belize, located under a rainforest canopy. Similarly, Traviglia and Cottica (2011) argue that the implementation of aerial photographs and high resolution satellite imagery is crucial for the identification of past traces of occupation together with the ancient extent and geomorphology of the ancient islands. However as Słowik (2012) argues in his study, there are several difficulties in order to record subsurface features due to local variations of the terrain due to alluvium fills.

On a different scale, geophysical surveys also have been conducted successfully in different archaeological environments. As Batayneh (2011) mentions, geophysical methods have been used with increasing frequency in archaeology since 1946 (e.g. Jeng et al., 2003; Cardarelli and Filippo, 2009; Papadopoulos et al., 2010). The utility and limitations of geophysical surveys at alluvial plains have been demonstrated by Weston (2001). In a different environment, Drahor (2011) presented the results of geophysical investigations carried out at important archaeological sites under encroaching urbanization in the city of İzmir, Turkey.

A new ground remote sensing technique intended for archaeological investigations was recently presented by Agapiou et al., 2010, Agapiou et al., 2012 and Agapiou and Hadjimitsis (2011). In their work, ground handheld spectroradiometers were used for the detection of buried archaeological materials and features. Stressed vegetation conditions identified using crop spectral signature profiles, were successfully associated with buried remains. Although spectroradiometers were used during the past in other scientific fields such as vegetation canopy reflectance modelling, spectral mixture analysis, classification techniques or even predictive modelling (Peddle et al., 2001), very limited studies can been found in the literature regarding archaeological prospection. Ground spectroradiometers are used in the same way as airborne hyperspectral sensors (e.g. Aqdus et al., 2012). However the later need to be atmospheric and geometric corrected before any post-processing. In contrast, as Agapiou et al. (2012) argue that, in situ spectroradiometric data can provide more accurate results (or ground “truth”) regarding the reflectance of each target since the relative distance of the instrument (spectroradiometer) and the target (crop) is relative very small (1.2 m).

In this work a major part of the Vésztő-Mágor Tell was investigated through aerial and satellite images, and ground based geophysical and spectroradiometric techniques. The aim of this study is to integrate the results of these different remote sensing approaches and to highlight their efficiency in outlining buried archaeological features.

Section snippets

Case study area

Vésztő-Mágor Tell is located on the southeastern Great Hungarian Plain (Békés County) in a meander loop of the Holt-Sebes-Körös river (Fig. 1). The Tell is composed of cultural and natural layers that cover about 4.25 ha and rise to a height of about 9 m above mean sea level (a.m.s.l; see Fig. 2, left).

The systematic archaeological investigations of the site, focusing on the monastery on top of the Tell, began in 1968 by K. Nagy and continued until 1978 by I. Juhász. Excavations aiming at

Methodology and data collection

Diverse remote sensing techniques were applied at the site for archaeological prospection: geophysical surveys, aerial/satellite imagery and ground hyperspectral measurements. More specifically, the magnetic gradiometry techniques covered an area of 46,600 m2 whereas the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey covered 4000 m2 with a partial overlap of the magnetic grids towards the north central part of the site. The total area covered from the different remote sensing techniques is presented in

Geophysical surveys

Fig. 9, Fig. 10 show the GPR horizontal slices with increasing depth and the magnetic results, respectively. The north section of the area was saturated with water and the GPR electromagnetic signals were completely attenuated (Sarris and Papadopoulos, 2011).

According to the magnetic data, a shallow linear anomaly (anomaly M2 at Fig. 10 right) appears to the north that has been hypothesized to belong to the north boundary of the old monastery's yard (Sarris, 2006). According to the GPR data (

Discussion

The use of remote sensing images, both aerial and satellite, and traditional photointerpretation confirmed the identification of features in close correlation to the rest of geophysical techniques. Multi-temporal images revealed features that can differentiate with respect to the time capture of the images. The radiometric and spectral techniques allowed the enhancement of the anomalies present in the area.

It is very important to highlight the fact that both ground spectroradiometric and

Conclusions

This article presents the results of a manifold remote sensing approach (Sarris, 2012) for the Vésztő-Mágor Tell, located in the southeastern part of the Great Hungarian plain. Different remote sensing techniques were evaluated in order to enhance the final interpretation results.

Based on the remote sensing results it seems that the Vésztő-Mágor Tell consists of three curvilinear rings that outline the north section of the site. The particular features that are most probably related to

Acknowledgements

Ground hyperspectral measurements results are part of the PhD thesis of Mr. Athos Agapiou. The authors would like to express their appreciation to the Alexander Onassis Foundation for funding the PhD study. Also thanks are given to the Remote Sensing Laboratory of the Department of Civil Engineering & Geomatics at the Cyprus University of Technology for supporting the particular PhD research (http://www.cut.ac.cy). The fieldwork campaign was supported by USA-NSF (U.S.-Hungarian-Greek

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