Patterns in Past Settlements: Geospatial Analysis of Imprints of Cultural Heritage on Landscapes

Overview

• Highlights scientific developments and technologies that have provided new tools to decipher the past
• Elaborates the unique advantages that these technologies offer for archaeological applications
• Lists the available technologies and data sources; processing, interpretation, and feature detection specific to archaeological settlements
• Explains the geomorphological processes the landscape undergoes which preserves or obscures traces of the past

About this book

This book is an introduction to a new branch of archaeology that scrutinises landscapes to find evidence of past human activity. Such evidence can be hard to detect at ground-level, but may be visible in remote sensing (RS) imagery from aerial platforms and satellites. Drawing on examples from around the world as well as from her own research work on archaeological sites in India (including Nalanda, Agra, Srirangapatna, Talakadu, and Mahabalipuram), the author presents a systematic process for integrating this information with historical spatial records such as old maps, paintings, and field surveys using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to gain new insights into our past. Further, the book highlights several instances where these insights are actionable -- they have been used to identify, understand, conserve, and protect the fragile remnants of our past. This book will be of particular interest not only to researchers in archaeology, history, art history, and allied fields, but to governmental and non-governmental professionals working in cultural heritage protection and conservation.

Hardcover ISBN 978-981-15-7465-8 Published: 30 September 2020
Softcover ISBN 978-981-15-7468-9 Published: 01 October 2021
eBook ISBN 978-981-15-7466-5 Published: 29 September 2020