Jesse Casana

Stereo analysis, DEM extraction and orthorectification of CORONA satellite imagery: archaeological applications from the Near East

CORONA satellite imagery, preserving an account of the earths surface from 40 years ago, is a most important archaeological survey tool and we have often sung its praises. Here the authors use new procedures to extend the competence and revelations of CORONA even further. Stereo pairs derived from images taken from fore and aft of the satellite give three dimensional images of landscapes and even individual sites. Techniques of modelling and rectification restore the sites to their original shape without recourse to survey on the ground – in many cases no longer possible since the sites have been buried, inundated or erased. The ingenuity shown here indicates that results from CORONA are only going to get better.

The CORONA Atlas Project: Orthorectification of CORONA Satellite Imagery and Regional-Scale Archaeological Exploration in the Near East

Declassified, Cold War-era CORONA satellite images have proven to be a critical tool in archaeology of the Near East and elsewhere, primarily because they preserve a picture of sites and landscapes that predates recent agricultural, industrial and urban development. However, unprocessed CORONA images contain extreme spatial distortions caused by a cross-path panoramic scanning system, and the absence of detailed orientation and camera information makes correction of these errors highly challenging, resulting in small-scale, piecemeal application of this resource. This chapter overviews our methods for efficient orthorectification of KH-4A and KH-4B CORONA imagery and our development of a freely accessible online database for viewing and distribution of corrected images. We also highlight our efforts to deploy regional-scale CORONA coverage to facilitate the discovery and documentation of archaeological landscapes from across the Northern Fertile Crescent.

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

Abstract 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.

Satellite imagery-based monitoring of archaeological site damage in the Syrian civil war

Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the rich archaeological heritage of Syria and northern Iraq has faced severe threats, including looting, combat-related damage, and intentional demolition of monuments. However, the inaccessibility of the conflict zone to archaeologists or cultural heritage specialists has made it difficult to produce accurate damage assessments, impeding efforts to develop mitigation strategies and policies. This paper presents results of a project, undertaken in collaboration with the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) and the US Department of State, to monitor damage to archaeological sites in Syria, northern Iraq, and southern Turkey using recent, high-resolution satellite imagery. Leveraging a large database of archaeological and heritage sites throughout the region, as well as access to continually updated satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe, this project has developed a flexible and efficient methodology to log observations of damage in a manner that facilitates spatial and temporal queries. With nearly 5000 sites carefully evaluated, analysis reveals unexpected patterns in the timing, severity, and location of damage, helping us to better understand the evolving cultural heritage crisis in Syria and Iraq. Results also offer a model for future remote sensing-based archaeological and heritage monitoring efforts in the Middle East and beyond.

Landscapes of tells in the Near East and beyondRobert Hofmann, Fevzi-Kemal Moetz & Johannes Müller (ed.). Tells: social and environmental space. Proceedings of the international workshop “Socio-environmental dynamics over the last 12,000 years: the creation of landscapes II (14th–18th March 2011)” in Kiel. Volume 3 (Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 207). 233 pages, numerous bw 978-3-7749-3765-9 hardback € 56.

ROBERT HOFMANN, FEVZI-KEMAL MOETZ & JOHANNES MÜLLER (ed.). Tells: social and environmental space. Proceedings of the international workshop “Socioenvironmental dynamics over the last 12,000 years: the creation of landscapes II (14th –18th March 2011)” in Kiel. Volume 3 (Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 207). 233 pages, numerous b&w illustrations. 2012. Bonn: Habelt; 978-3-7749-3765-9 hardback €56. Recent years have seen a proliferation of studies dedicated to the ideological, environmental and other aspects of tellbased settlement systems in the Near East and surrounding regions. While the prominent mounded sites that dot the landscape from south-eastern Europe to the Indus Valley have often been regarded as a simple by-product of longterm occupation and the dominance of a building material like mudbrick, foundational research by T.J. Wilkinson has turned our attention to the cultural forces that produced these distinctive sites. The morphology of tells and the landscapes in which they are nested are, in Wilkinson’s (2003) view, a result of a particular package of settlement