Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14279/29945
Title: Exploring the largest known Bronze Age earthworks in Europe through medium resolution multispectral satellite images
Authors: Agapiou, Athos 
Hegyi, Alexandru 
Gogâltan, Florin 
Stavilă, Andrei 
Sava, Victor 
Sarris, Apostolos 
Floca, Cristian 
Dorogostaisky, Leonard 
Major Field of Science: Humanities
Field Category: History and Archaeology
Keywords: Remote sensing archaeology;Crop mark;Archaeological prospection;Vegetation;Indices;Fortifications;Romania
Issue Date: 1-Apr-2023
Source: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 2023, vol. 118
Volume: 118
Project: ENSURE: Innovative survey techniques for detection of surface and sub-surface archaeological remains 
Journal: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 
Abstract: This study aims to provide new insights into Europe's largest known Bronze Age earthworks using open-access and freely distributed medium resolution satellite images. The most extensive Bronze Age fortifications in Europe, namely, the Corneşti-Iarcuri and Sântana – Cetatea Veche sites, were investigated through the Sentinel 2 and the newly launched Landsat 9 optical sensors. Image processing techniques were applied to both datasets, including vegetation indices, orthogonal spectral transformations, and pan-sharpening techniques. The final results revealed several known and unknown archaeological proxies by enhancing a number of linear and curved crop marks in the vicinity of the archaeological sites. Indeed, while previously implemented geophysical results confirmed some of these archaeological proxies, new findings (crop marks) were also revealed, representing archaeological structures that were unknown until now. The study's overall findings indicate that medium resolution satellite images can be used in appropriate areas with archaeological interest as a first step toward better understanding the broader context of an area. The findings addressed in this study have a direct impact on the non-invasive aspect of archaeology, as the methodology employed in this paper may be applied to various types of sites in southwestern Romania and beyond and might serve as a solid starting point for any archaeological project. Finally, this is the first elaboration of Landsat 9 intended for archaeological research and our study proves that its utility for archaeological and heritage purposes.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14279/29945
ISSN: 15698432
DOI: 10.1016/j.jag.2023.103239
Rights: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Type: Article
Affiliation : Earth Observation Cultural Heritage Research Lab 
Cyprus University of Technology 
Kyoto University 
Applied Geomorphology and Interdisciplinary Research Centre (CGACI) 
West University of Timisoara 
Institute of Archaeology and History of Art of Cluj-Napoca 
Arad Museum Complex 
Digital Humanities GeoInformatics Lab 
University of Cyprus 
Institute of Banat Studies 
“ArheoVest” Association 
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed
Appears in Collections:Άρθρα/Articles

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat
Exploring the largest known Bronze Age earthworks.pdf27.34 MBAdobe PDFView/Open
CORE Recommender
Show full item record

SCOPUSTM   
Citations 20

3
checked on Mar 14, 2024

WEB OF SCIENCETM
Citations

2
Last Week
0
Last month
checked on Oct 29, 2023

Page view(s) 20

173
Last Week
2
Last month
0
checked on Nov 21, 2024

Download(s) 20

108
checked on Nov 21, 2024

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons