ALS-Based Detection of Past Human Activities in the Białowieża Forest—New Evidence of Unknown Remains of Past Agricultural Systems

Abstract

The Białowieża Forest (BF), a unique ecosystem of historical significance in central Europe, has a long history of assumed human settlement, with at least 200 known archaeological sites (until 2016). This study uncovers new evidence of the cultural heritage of this unique forest area using Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) technology combined with traditional archaeological field assessment methods to verify the ALS data interpretations and to provide additional evidence about the function and origin of the newly detected archaeological sites. The results of this study include (1) a scientific approach for an improved identification of archaeological resources in forest areas; (2) new evidence about the history of the human use of the BF based on ALS data, covering the entire Polish part of the BF; and (3) an improved remote sensing infrastructure, supporting existing GIS (Geographic Information System) systems for the BF, a famous UNESCO Heritage site. Our study identified numerous locations with evidence of past human agricultural activities known in the literature as “field systems”, “lynchets” and “Celtic fields”. The initial identification included more than 300 km of possible field boundaries and plough headlands, many of which we have verified on the ground. Various past human activities creating those boundaries have existed since the (pre-) Roman Period up to the 13th century AD. The results of this study demonstrate that past human activities in the Polish part of the Białowieża Forest had been more prevalent than previously believed. As a practical result of the described activities, a geodatabase was created; this has practical applications for the system of monument protection in Poland, as well as for local communities and the BF’s management and conservation. The more widely achieved results are in line with the implementation of the concept of a cultural heritage inventory in forested and protected areas—the actions taken specify (built globally) the forms of protection and management of cultural and environmental goods.

Semantic Segmentation (U-Net) of Archaeological Features in Airborne Laser Scanning—Example of the Białowieża Forest

“…Fragments of the discovered field systems were investigated by excavation as well as geophysical and soil analyses. This made it possible to date them back to the pre-Roman period, the period of Roman influence and the early Middle Ages [7,[45][46][47][48]. Remains of ancient field systems chronologically associated with the Late Roman period have also been detected in the Tuchola Forest [49].…”

“…This area has been covered by an ALS survey acquired during two photogrammetric missions-as part of the Life+ ForBioSensing project and as part of the ISOK system [5,6]. Extensive archaeological research has been carried out in recent years, mainly using the ALS data [7,8].…”

Unveil the unseen: Using LiDAR to capture time‐lag dynamics in the herbaceous layer of European temperate forests

“…With the increasing amount of land covered by ALS data (Fruchart, 2020), it becomes obvious that what we today consider to be very ancient forests can result from recolonization of abandoned Roman farmlands (Georges-Leroy et al, 2011). Also in Eastern Europe, ALS unveiled more than 300 km of field boundaries and many (pre-)Roman settlements in the iconic 'primary' forest of Bialowieza in Poland, indicating that the present forest has largely established on former Celtic, Roman and medieval fields, towards the 13th century AD (Stereńczak et al, 2020). Beyond the reconstruction of the past landscapes, ALS renders it possible to assess the impact of past land uses on current vegetation patterns and ecosystem processes.…”

Airborne LiDAR-Derived Digital Elevation Model for Archaeology

“…Archaeologists interpret enhanced visualizations of high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) interpolated from classified point clouds [5][6][7]. The results have proven to be very efficient in detecting archaeological features, and have already drastically changed our understanding of archaeological sites, monuments, and landscapes, especially in forested areas, as seen in [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”