https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/15/millennia-of-human-activity-heatwave-reveals-lost-uk-archaeological-sites
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-45189449/hot-weather-reveals-hidden-history-to-archaeologists
Quote of the week: "We're standing on this, aren't we?"
It has been an excellent opportunity to go site-spotting; our archaeologists missed a trick in 1976, which could have been a superb year for aerial revelations. Thankfully they are taking advantage of conditions this time.
I suspect the fact that cheap drones weren't available in 1976 had something to do with that.
Cheers
Mick
Quote from: Patrick Waterson on August 15, 2018, 08:52:21 AM
It has been an excellent opportunity to go site-spotting; our archaeologists missed a trick in 1976, which could have been a superb year for aerial revelations. Thankfully they are taking advantage of conditions this time.
I was studying archaeology in 76, and my recollection is that there was quite a rise in sightings then, which led to wider interest in the potential of aerial photography. What there wasn't was a systematic approach, with employed survey teams and interpretation. Mapping from photos was also harder before modern computing.
I remember reading an article back in '76 where the comment was made that they were hiring all the planes and photo-recce equipment they could.
We forget the sheer cost of getting aerial photographs done to order back then
Good point. It looks as if I was mistaken.
Quote from: Patrick Waterson on August 15, 2018, 07:08:11 PM
Good point. It looks as if I was mistaken.
even then it wasn't a new trick, Woolly at Ur tells of how he discovered the graves because they were standing on a low rise as the sun set and could see, because of the angle of the light and soil differences,all the tops of the shafts. So he had people frantically putting stones or markers on each shaft top as others directed them from the mount
Quote from: Jim Webster on August 16, 2018, 07:50:24 AM
Quote from: Patrick Waterson on August 15, 2018, 07:08:11 PM
Good point. It looks as if I was mistaken.
even then it wasn't a new trick, Woolly at Ur tells of how he discovered the graves because they were standing on a low rise as the sun set and could see, because of the angle of the light and soil differences,all the tops of the shafts. So he had people frantically putting stones or markers on each shaft top as others directed them from the mount
If I remember my history of archaeology, the potential of aerial photography was noted from the beginning, when it was being developed by the military in WWI.