Aerial Image-Based Documentation and Monitoring of Illegal Archaeological Excavations

The loss of archaeological heritage continues today, because of both natural disasters and human-made actions. Alarmingly, a significant amount of the destruction is perpetrated by looters and illegal excavations. This problem is not a new one. However, it has increased exponentially in recent years...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dante Abate, Marina Faka, Christos Keleshis, Christos Constantinides, Andreas Leonidou, Andreani Papageorgiou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Heritage
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/6/5/228
Description
Summary:The loss of archaeological heritage continues today, because of both natural disasters and human-made actions. Alarmingly, a significant amount of the destruction is perpetrated by looters and illegal excavations. This problem is not a new one. However, it has increased exponentially in recent years, especially in countries which witnessed internal turmoil (i.e., the Arab Spring) but also throughout Europe. Local authorities struggle to provide adequate controls because of a lack of human resources, budget constraints or technological know-how. This paper describes a multimodal documentation and monitoring workflow applied to an archaeological site for which, due to the sensitivity of the topic, no specific details can be publicly disclosed. The techniques used include UAV aerial surveys, image-based modelling, change detection, relief visualization and GIS mapping. Thanks to the analysis of the multitemporal datasets, it was possible to assess the extension and spatial progression of illegal excavation over a two-year period.
ISSN:2571-9408