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Regional-Scale Archaeological Remote Sensing in the Age of Big Data

Automated Site Discovery vs. Brute Force Methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Jesse Casana
Jesse Casana*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 (jcasana@uark.edu)
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Abstract

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With the ever expanding quantity of high-resolution aerial and satellite imagery available to archaeologists, numerous researchers have sought to address this “big data” challenge by developing automated methods to aid in the discovery and mapping of archaeological sites and features. This paper reviews several notable efforts to create automated discovery tools, including both spectral and object-based approaches, and highlights the difficulties these projects have encountered. Arguing instead for the critically important role of a human analyst in archaeological discovery, I illustrate interim results of an ongoing project that utilizes CORONA satellite imagery to document previously unknown sites in a 300,000 km2 study area in the northern Fertile Crescent. The project is based on what I term “brute force” methods, relying on systematic exploration of imagery by trained analysts, and has now successfully created a database of more than 14,000 sites, some 10,000 of which are previously undocumented. Results of the project highlight the need for human intervention to make any archaeological discovery meaningful, suggesting that imagery analysis, like any act of archaeological investigation, requires an engaged, thoughtful and creative scholar.

Desde la última década, la cantidad de imágenes aéreas y satelitales de alta resolución disponible a los arqueólogos ha crecido exponencialmente, y estos recursos ofrecen posibilidades enormes para el descubrimiento de elementos y sitios arqueológicos. La gran cantidad de datos aéreos y de satélite ya disponible a los arqueólogos puede ser abrumador, y esto ha causado que unos de nosotros busquemos herramientas automatizadas para poder manejar nuestra propia versión de “datos grandes.” Yo argumento que el análisis de imágenes aéreas y satelitales para encontrar evidencia de actividades culturales pasadas es tanto un arte hábil como ciencia. Es un proceso que requiere un arqueólogo empeñado, con un entendimiento de la historia del asentamiento local y las practicas de uso de terreno locales, y que pueda explorar imágenes creativamente para encontrar e interpretar elementos de posible importancia. Este es un trabajo que no puede ser automatizado, ni debería de ser, como sería la construcción de robots autónomos de excavación que hicieran nuestras propias excavaciones para nosotros. Ilustro este punto con un estudio de caso, utilizando imágenes satelitales CORONA en un esfuerzo para documentar sitios previamente no conocidos en un área de estudio de 300,000 km cuadrados en el norte de la Creciente Fértil. La base de datos resultante contiene 14,000+ sitios.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 2 , Issue 3: Special Issue: Digital Domains , August 2014 , pp. 222 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2014

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