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Increased biomass harvesting for bioenergy : - effects on biodiversity, landscape amenities and cultural heritage values

Bioenergy is one important form of renewable energy where Finland, Norway and Sweden have considerable potential. Greatly increased use of biomass for energy will, however, have considerable effects on environmental values like biodiversity, landscape appearance, outdoor recreation, and the cultural heritage. This review concludes that positive or marginally negative effects of biomass harvesting are likely for harvesting of logging residues, clearance of trees under power lines, along roads, and from marginal agricultural land, as well as production of energy crops on arable land. Negative effects are likely from harvesting of stumps, more intensive forest cultivation on logged areas, and harvesting of biomass from currently non-commercial forests. The environmental effects of production of biomass from reed canary grass or short rotation forestry will depend on where and how such production takes place.

Approaching a Mortuary Monument Landscape using GIS- and ALS- Generated 3D Models

In this study we examined how a GIS-based viewshed analysis that integrates movement could be used to provide substantial knowledge about the placement of Bronze Age grave cairns along the coast in a study area in Brunlanes, Larvik in South-East Norway. Additionally we studied the significance of digital elevation model quality for the interpretation of the viewshed analysis and for encluding palaeo-environmental changes (uplifting of land) in the analysis. Two sets of viewshed analyses were carried out from seven potential sailing routes based on a 20-metre and one-metre resolution DEM. The results indicate that the grave cairns were placed on the skyline in order to stand out more clearly to observers approaching from the sea, and that the DEM quality is of importance for the interpretation. Taking palaeo-environmental issues into consideration, we found that the effects of the uplifting of land were proven to affect visibility whereas vegetation was not an obstacle.

David C. Cowley (ed.): Remote Sensing for Archaeological Heritage Management. Proceedings of the 11th EAC Heritage Management Symposium, Reykjavík, 25–27 March 2010

In recent years the archaeological community has experienced an increasing interest in the use of advanced techniques and methods. The archaeological toolbox has been expanded with some new techniques which were unknown just a few years ago and which have changed archaeological research and management or have the potential to do so. Other advanced techniques and methods have been in use in archaeology for decades but are being improved more or less continuously at present in terms of accuracy, quality and efficiency. Quite a few archaeologists and technicians are now involved in research and development projects with a focus on advanced technologies. In the wake of this development we are faced with an increasing interest among archaeologists in putting new technical approaches to use in their work, whether it is within research or cultural heritage management. This increasing interest is among other things evident through the many seminars and conferences which have been held throughout the world in recent years with a focus on advanced remote sensing and non-destructive methods in archaeology. The use of remote sensing techniques like satellite, LIDAR, and multiand hyper-spectral scanning is becoming more and more common, and this is also the case with ground-based geophysical prospection such as ground penetrating radar and magnetometry. In March 2010 the symposium Remote Sensing for Archaeological Heritage Management – which was the 11th Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (EAC) Heritage Management Symposium – was held in Reykjavik in Iceland. The aim of the symposium was to throw light on the significance of identifying, documenting and monitoring cultural heritage by the use of remote sensing methods. The symposium resulted in a comprehensive book (hereafter referred to in the text as the ‘EAC volume’) presenting all the papers that were given at the meeting and which was published less than one year after the event was held cooperatively by the EAC and the Aerial Archaeological Research Group (AARG). In addition to a foreword (Wollák), acknowledgements (Cowley) and an opening address (Jakobsdóttir) the volume contains 25 articles arranged into four chapters: 1. ‘Making remote sensing work for archaeological heritage management’, 2. ‘New environments and technologies: challenges and potential’, 3. ‘Exploring the archaeological resource base’, and finally 4. ‘Using remote sensed data: interpretation and understanding’. The articles cover the use of aerial photography, satellite imagery, LIDAR, multiand hyper-spectral scanning, sonars and geophysical surveys (magnetometer and radar). The volume as such gives a good overview of the state of the art as well as the potential that the use of these remote sensing techniques offers to both terrestrial and marine archaeology. As the book title indicates this is done with a certain focus on cultural heritage management (Cowley and Sigurðardóttir). The book is in quarto format, which is appropriate when maps, photographs and other figures are a particularly important part of what is communicated. Generally, resolution and quality are well taken care of in this publication in other respects, but ideally some of the figures could have been shown on a more readable scale. In addition quite a lot of the maps and images are missing a scale bar, thus challenging the reader’s ability to easily grasp the content. The term remote sensing is in this case used as a collective term for all methods represented – REVIEWS Norwegian Archaeological Review, Vol. 45, No. 2, 2012