Digital Methods and Remote Sensing in Archaeology

This volume debutsthe new scope ofRemote Sensing, whichwas first defined asthe analysis of data collected by sensors that were not in physical contact with the objects under investigation (using cameras, scanners, and radar systemsoperating from spaceborne or airborne platforms). Awider characterization is now possible:Remote Sensing can beany non-destructive approach to viewing the buried and nominally invisible evidence of past activity. Spaceborne and airborne sensors,now supplemented by laser scanning,are united using ground-based geophysical instruments and undersea remote sensing, as well asother non-invasive techniquessuch as surface collection or field-walking survey. Now, any method that enables observation ofevidence on or beneath the surface of the earth, without impacton the surviving stratigraphy, is legitimately within the realm of Remote Sensing. The new interfaces and senses engaged in Remote Sensing appear throughout the book.On a philosophical level, this isabout thelandscapes andbuilt environments that revealhistory through place andtime. It is about new perspectivesthe views of history possible withRemote Sensing andfostered in part by immersive, interactive 3D and 4D environments discussed in this volume.These perspectivesare both the result and the implementation oftechnological, cultural, and epistemological advances in record keeping, interpretation, and conceptualization. Methodology presented herebuilds onthe currentease and speed in collecting data sets on the scale of the object, site, locality, and landscape.As this volume shows,many disciplinessurroundingarchaeology and related cultural studies are currently involved in Remote Sensing, and its relevancewill only increase as the methodology expands.