Neubauer W
Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, University of Vienna, Franz Klein-Gasse 1/V, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
Naturwissenschaften. 2001 Jan;88(1):13-24. doi: 10.1007/s001140000192.
To understand the development of prehistoric cultural and economic activities, archaeologists try to obtain as much relevant information as possible. For this purpose, large numbers of similar sites must be identified, usually by non-destructive prospection methods such as aerial photography and geophysical prospection. Aerial archaeology is most effective in locating sites and the use of digital photogrammetry provides maps with high accuracy. For geophysical prospection mainly geomagnetic and geoelectrical methods or the ground-penetrating radar method are used. Near-surface measurements of the respective contrasts within physical properties of the archaeological structures and the surrounding material allows detailed mapping of the inner structures of the sites investigated. Applying specially developed wheeled instrumentation, high-resolution magnetic surveys can be carried out in a standard raster of 0.125 x 0.5 m covering up to 5 ha per day. Measurements of ground resistivity or radar surveys in a raster of 0.5 or 0.5 x 0.05 m, respectively, are used to gain information on archaeological structures and on the main stratigraphic sequence of sites covering up to 0.5 ha per day. Data on intensities of the Earth's magnetic field, apparent resistivities of the ground or amplitudinal information of radar reflections are processed using a digital image processing technique to visualize the otherwise invisible archaeological structures or monuments buried in the ground. Archaeological interpretation, in the sense of detecting, mapping and describing the archaeological structures, is done using GIS technology by combining all relevant prospection data. As most of the Middle European archaeological heritage is under a massive threat of destruction, dramatically accelerated by intensive agriculture or industrial transformation of the landscape, the prospection techniques presented here represent an approach towards an efficient documentation of the disappearing remains of our ancestors.
为了解史前文化和经济活动的发展情况，考古学家试图获取尽可能多的相关信息。为此，必须识别大量类似的遗址，通常采用航空摄影和地球物理勘探等非破坏性勘探方法。航空考古在定位遗址方面最为有效，数字摄影测量的使用提供了高精度的地图。地球物理勘探主要使用地磁和地电方法或探地雷达方法。对考古结构和周围物质物理性质的各自反差进行近地表测量，可以详细绘制所调查遗址的内部结构。应用专门开发的轮式仪器，可以在0.125×0.5米的标准栅格中进行高分辨率磁测，每天覆盖面积可达5公顷。分别在0.5米或0.5×0.05米的栅格中进行地面电阻率测量或雷达探测，以获取有关考古结构和遗址主要地层序列的信息，每天覆盖面积可达0.5公顷。利用数字图像处理技术处理地磁场强度、地面视电阻率或雷达反射的振幅信息数据，以可视化隐藏在地下原本不可见的考古结构或遗迹。从探测、绘制和描述考古结构的意义上讲，考古解释是通过地理信息系统（GIS）技术，结合所有相关勘探数据来完成的。由于中欧大部分考古遗产面临着巨大的破坏威胁，集约化农业或景观的工业转型极大地加速了这种破坏，这里介绍的勘探技术代表了一种有效记录我们祖先正在消失的遗迹的方法。
