LIDAR, Point Clouds, and Their Archaeological Applications

White, Devin

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6074-9_14

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Recent digital approaches to mapping microtopography have included ground-based data collection with total stations of various type, Geographic Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), and Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLS), while Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), also known widely as lidar, have also become well known [1][2][3][4]. The 'point clouds' of data collected by such methods are typically processed into digital surface models over which virtual light casts shadows, thereby highlighting, as it were, low-relief features; yet other 'scientific…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping site-level microtopography with Real- Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (RTK GNSS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry (UAVP)

Roosevelt

2014

Open Archaeology

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Microtopographic mapping has a long history in archaeology and has gained prominence recently owing to the proliferation of digital technologies. With such proliferation, it becomes necessary to compare and contrast different approaches based on a common set of criteria. This article compares the implementation and efficiency of two methods of mapping microtopography -ground-based Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (RTK GNSS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry (UAVP) survey -assessing the pros and cons of each, including those related to data quality. 'Off-the-shelf' solutions for methods were used to create the comparative dataset of microtopographic maps of six Middle and Late Bronze Age sites over the course of four seasons between 2007 and 2013 in the study area of the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey in western Turkey. Comparison of results demonstrate that the methods are similar with respect to ease of implementation, cost efficiency, and the (in)significance of data defects, while, unsurprisingly, UAVP survey can be greater than one order of magnitude more labor efficient than RTK GNSS survey and over two orders of magnitude more detailed as measured by data density. The accuracy of both methods is high, within typical error budgets for site-level mapping, and comparable to other recent digital mapping approaches. Accordingly, the results suggest that, given site suitability, UAVP is the more labor and cost-efficient method in the long run, with significant data quality benefits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping site-level microtopography with Real- Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (RTK GNSS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry (UAVP)

Roosevelt

2014

Open Archaeology

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“…Emergent 3D imaging technologies now offer powerful means to generate advanced digital reconstructions for research, education and preservation in ways that complement traditional drawings and photographs and help us to evaluate alternative scenarios of design, construction, meaning and purpose (e.g. Favro 2006;Forte 2010;Gruen 2009;Pavlidis et al 2007;Sullivan and Wendrich 2009;White 2013). Magan's ancient towers are very different from contemporary monumental architecture in neighbouring regions, such as temples and palaces in Mesopotamia or Iran, and therefore offer a unique perspective on the rise of early complex polities.…”

Section: Please Scroll Down For Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

If a picture is worth a thousand words…3D modelling of a Bronze Age tower in Oman

et al. 2014

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Three-dimensional imagery is rapidly transforming the reconstruction, visualization and conceptualization of ancient monuments. We report (and reflect on the value of) digital reconstruction of a third-millennium BC megalithic tower and surrounding landscape using a combination of architectural drawing, 3D photogrammetry and geographic information systems (GIS) mapping. Our results indicate that at least 181 metric tons of limestone (mean boulder weight 386kg) were hewn to create a monument 20m in diameter and at least 4m high. In addition to considering possible practical functions, including water extraction and a potential defensive purpose, we argue that this tower's central significance lay in its monumentality. At least sixty comparable Umm an-Nar period towers are known; and, as much as the model itself, the process of planning and executing a 3D model led us to recognize that a community of skilled builder/architects used a sophisticated mental template (with variation on a theme) to design and construct them.

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“…Once the point cloud was classified, it was used to create a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), a bare-earth representation of the ground surface, with 0.5-meter post spacing. This DTM took the form of a georeferenced raster data product (sometimes referred to as a 2.5D product, as opposed to the original point cloud itself, which is 3D; see [28]) with 0.5 × 0.5-meter cells (Figure 3). LP360 was used to create the DTM as well.…”

Section: Lidar Data Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Airborne LiDAR Reveals a Vast Archaeological Landscape at the Nan Madol World Heritage Site

Comer

Dumitru

et al. 2019

Remote Sensing

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An airborne LiDAR survey of the Nan Madol World Heritage Site and adjacent Temwen Island revealed a complex, irrigated cultivation system, the first found in the Central and Eastern Caroline Islands. This informs the goals of the sustainable conservation project, funded by the U.S. Department of State Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, that inspired the survey, and expands understanding of Nan Madol and its place in the network of Pacific island interaction and trade. Fieldwork verified the presence, across Temwen, of low, wet, cultivable areas, many of which are connected by water channels or separated by earthen berms. The berms themselves may also have been cultivated. In complexity, labor investment, and organization, the system is comparable to Nan Madol itself, the largest archaeological site in Micronesia, with structures on about 100 artificial islets built of stone and coral on a reef flat. Constructed over a millennium, Nan Madol was the seat of the Saudeleur Dynasty, which persisted from about 1200 to 1600 CE. The cultivation system appears to have been able to provide ample food for consumption, feasting, and redistribution or trade. If the landscape alteration described here proves to date to the time of the Saudeleur Dynasty, it will offer many avenues of research into the economic basis of Nan Madol’s regional dominance.

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LIDAR, Point Clouds, and Their Archaeological Applications

Cited by 15 publications

References 9 publications

Mapping site-level microtopography with Real- Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (RTK GNSS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry (UAVP)

Mapping site-level microtopography with Real- Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (RTK GNSS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry (UAVP)

If a picture is worth a thousand words…3D modelling of a Bronze Age tower in Oman

Airborne LiDAR Reveals a Vast Archaeological Landscape at the Nan Madol World Heritage Site

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