Satellite imagery and heritage damage in Egypt: a response to Parcak <i>et al</i>. (2016)

Fradley, Michael; Sheldrick, Nichole

doi:10.15184/aqy.2017.25

Cited by 24 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…These satellites also provide an important resource for monitoring in areas of conflict or rapid development. Recent articles by Parcak et al (2016) and Fradley and Sheldrick (2017) in Antiquity, while in disagreement on some points, highlight the importance of ongoing monitoring and timely data updates to manage heritage in dynamic contexts. Several major efforts now leverage the advantages of serial satellite imaging across the Middle East and North Africa for the purpose of site and landscape monitoring, including the Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa project (EAMENA - Bewley et al 2016), the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (Casana and Panahipour 2014;Casana 2015;Danti et al 2017) and the Afghan Heritage Mapping Project (Stein 2015).…”

Section: High Temporal Revisit Satellitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Trends and Long-standing Problems in Archaeological Remote Sensing

Opitz

Herrmann

2018

Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology

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The variety and sophistication of data sources, sensors, and platforms employed in archaeological remote sensing have increased significantly over the past decade. Projects incorporating data from UAV surveys, regional and research-driven lidar surveys, the uptake of hyperspectral imaging, the launch of high-temporal revisit satellites, the advent of multi-sensor rigs for geophysical survey, and increased use of structure from motion mean that more archaeologists are engaging with remote sensing than ever. These technological advances continue to drive research in the specialist community and provide reasons for optimism about future applications, but many social and technical obstacles to the integration of remote sensing into archaeological research and heritage management remain. This article addresses the challenges of contemporary archaeological remote sensing by briefly reviewing trends and then focusing on providing a critical overview of the main structural problems. The discussion here concentrates on topics that have dominated the discourse in recent archaeological literature and featured prominently in ongoing fieldwork for the past decade across three broad segments of landscape archaeology: data collection in the field, the current state of data access and archives, and processing and interpretation.

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Section: High Temporal Revisit Satellitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Trends and Long-standing Problems in Archaeological Remote Sensing

Opitz

Herrmann

2018

Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology

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“…As our work progresses, we will need to remain critically aware of the implications for researchers of utilising such a large, standardised dataset [53]. Care must be taken to avoid misleading interpolations (e.g., see Fradley and Sheldrick's [56] commentary on Parcak [57]). For example, statistical variations in site density will need to take into account differential preservation levels which depend on landscape contexts.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Above and on the Ground: Geospatial Methods for Recording Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

et al. 2017

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Abstract:The EAMENA (Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa) project is a collaboration between the Universities of Leicester, Oxford and Durham; it is funded by the Arcadia Fund and the Cultural Protection Fund. This paper explores the development of the EAMENA methodology, and discusses some of the problems of working across such a broad region. We discuss two main case studies: the World Heritage site of Cyrene illustrates how the project can use satellite imagery (dating from the 1960s to 2017), in conjunction with published data to create a detailed set of database records for a single site and, in particular, highlights the impact of modern urban expansion across the region. Conversely, the Homs Cairns case study demonstrates how the EAMENA methodology also works at an extensive scale, and integrates image interpretation (using imagery dating from the 1960s to 2016), landuse mapping and field survey (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) to record and analyse the condition of hundreds of features across a small study region. This study emphasises the impact of modern agricultural and land clearing activities. Ultimately, this paper assesses the effectiveness of the EAMENA approach, evaluating its potential success against projects using crowd-sourcing and automation for recording archaeological sites, and seeks to determine the most appropriate methods to use to document sites and assess disturbances and threats across such a vast and diverse area.

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“…Recent debates arising from satellite-imagery assessments of the preservation of thousands of archaeological sites in Egypt have revealed that looting is only a pressing preservation problem in the Nile River Valley and in the Nile Delta, although "encroachment," or the unregulated expansion of human activities, damages the greatest total area of archaeological sites. Broader assessments of a greater variety of types of archaeological sites throughout the Eastern Desert indicate that development and "encroachment" cause much more severe and widespread destruction [64,89,90].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote assessments of the archaeological heritage situation in Afghanistan

Hammer

Seifried²,

Franklin

et al. 2018

Journal of Cultural Heritage

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Analysis of spatial and temporal patterns in looting and destruction at archaeological sites using satellite imagery has become a focus of multiple research groups working on cultural heritage in conflict zones, especially in areas controlled by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. In this paper, we apply similar methods to investigate looting and destruction at archaeological sites in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, where Taliban-related cultural heritage destruction events have also frequently made international headlines. Using the time depth provided by high-resolution, time-stamped DigitalGlobe satellite and BuckEye aerial images as well as CORONA and other historical satellite images and maps, we quantitatively document spatial and temporal patterns in destruction from looting, agricultural activity, military occupation, urban growth, mining, and other kinds of development at over 1000 previously known archaeological sites across Afghanistan. This analysis indicates that several common narratives about cultural heritage destruction in Afghanistan may require revision. Specifically, we conclude that significant amounts of systematic looting of archaeological sites in Afghanistan already occurred before Taliban-related conflicts, that there has been little increase in systematic looting in Talibancontrolled areas post-2001, and that the most pressing threats to Afghanistan's heritage sites come from development activities, including agricultural expansion, urban growth, and future mining. The analysis demonstrates that the situation in Afghanistan both parallels and contrasts with that seen in the post-Arab-Spring Middle East.

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Satellite imagery and heritage damage in Egypt: a response to Parcak et al. (2016)

Cited by 24 publications

References 8 publications

Recent Trends and Long-standing Problems in Archaeological Remote Sensing

Recent Trends and Long-standing Problems in Archaeological Remote Sensing

From Above and on the Ground: Geospatial Methods for Recording Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

Remote assessments of the archaeological heritage situation in Afghanistan

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