Satellites and site destruction : an analysis of modern impacts on the archaeological resource of the ancient Near East
The increasing damage to archaeological sites is of particular issue in the Near East. Rapid modernisation has dramatically changed the landscape, threatening the archaeological resource. Ancient sites and relict landscapes are particularly well preserved here, but the rate of anthropogenic damage is shown to be increasing markedly. This primary aim of this thesis is to use sequential satellite images to examine the changes to archaeological sites in selected case study areas in Syria, and attempt a quantitative assessment. Results are then generalised to the wider Middle Eastern region. The secondary aim is to demonstrate the potential of low cost and free satellite imagery for archaeological site monitoring, as such work is essential but the cost of custom-ordered imagery is prohibitive for many organisations. The case study areas were Tell Beydar in the Upper Khabur Basin, and the region south of Carchemish by the Euphrates. 161 sites were examined, first on low-cost Corona imagery from the 1960s, showing sites at the advent of the landscape change, and then on SPOT, DigitalGlobe and Geoeye imagery from the last decade, available through Google Earth. The sites were surveyed as part of Durham Universityâs
Cunliffe, Emma Louise
Satellites and site destruction : an analysis of modern impacts on the archaeological resource of the ancient Near East. The increasing damage to archaeological sites is of particular issue in the Near East. Rapid modernisation has dramatically changed the landscape, threatening the archaeological resource. Ancient sites and relict landscapes are particularly well preserved here, but the rate of anthropogenic damage is shown to be increasing markedly. This primary aim of this thesis is to use sequential satellite images to examine the changes to archaeological sites in selected case study areas in Syria, and attempt a quantitative assessment. Results are then generalised to the wider Middle Eastern region. The secondary aim is to demonstrate the potential of low cost and free satellite imagery for archaeological site monitoring, as such work is essential but the cost of custom-ordered imagery is prohibitive for many organisations. The case study areas were Tell Beydar in the Upper Khabur Basin, and the region south of Carchemish by the Euphrates. 161 sites were examined, first on low-cost Corona imagery from the 1960s, showing sites at the advent of the landscape change, and then on SPOT, DigitalGlobe and Geoeye imagery from the last decade, available through Google Earth. The sites were surveyed as part of Durham Universityâs
site destruction analysis modern impact archaeological_resource ancient_near_east increase damage archaeological_site particular issue near_east rapid modernisation dramatically change landscape threaten archaeological_resource ancient sit relict landscape particularly well_preserve rate anthropogenic damage show_increase markedly primary_aim use sequential satellite image examine change archaeological_site select_case study_area syria attempt quantitative assessment generalise wider middle_eastern region secondary_aim potential low_cost free satellite_imagery archaeological_site monitoring work essential cost custom ordered imagery many organisation case_study area tell upper basin region_south euphrates site examine first low_cost corona imagery show site advent landscape_change spot imagery available earth site_survey part durham_university