The Discovery Programme in conjunction with the EU Culture funded ArchaeoLandscapes Project will be hosting a session during the Euroscience Open Forum 2012 Europe’s largest general science meeting which is being held in Dublin as part of the Dublin City of Science Events. The session with entitled: Revealing the past - remote sensing techniques in archaeology will discuss a range of remote sensing techniques and their application within archaeology.

Session details:

Revealing the past - remote sensing techniques in archaeology

Speakers: Anthony Corns, Robert Shaw, Axel Posluschny, Jörg Bofinger, Kai-Christian Bruhn

Archaeological air photography has now been joined by satellite imagery, airborne laser scanning and a variety of airborne and ground-based survey techniques known jointly as ‘remote sensing’, since they explore what is on or beneath the earth or ocean without disturbing its surface or damaging what lies below.

These new technologies have had a dramatic impact illustrating to the general public the character and importance of heritage sites and of the evolving landscapes within which they lie. Improved public understanding and appreciation of these visual and material links with the past can lead to greater enjoyment and interest in such sites, advancing the case for heritage conservation and the continuing enjoyment for future generations. This session aims to highlight the interdisciplinary range of techniques available and specifically illustrate the most recent developments in this field.

Date & Location:Saturday July 14, 2012 4:00pm - 5:00pm @ Room 6

Links

ESOF website

Dublin City of Science Website

This year's EAA conference will take place in Helsinki from 29 August - 1 September (http://www.eaa2012.fi/).

The following accepted session might be of interest for you:

Advanced Prospection Methods for Cultural Heritage Management – Experiences and Challenges

The combination of traditional aerial archaeological reconnaissance practiced from low flying aircrafts with technically advanced prospection methods, such as geophysics, satellite remote sensing and most recently also airborne laser scanning (ALS – LiDAR) have a great impact on Cultural Heritage Management. The possibility to detect new sites without expensive and destructive excavations, to further investigate and to monitor sites, monuments and landscapes with easy applicable non‐invasive methods have lead to a change in the work of many European archaeologists. Still more and more complex information on how our predecessors lived can currently be extracted from surface layers with little or no need for digging. In our session we would like to present case studies to highlight these positive aspects of the use of the aforementioned surveying methods, but also studies which show problems and pitfalls of these methods for Cultural Heritage Management and investigation in a broader sense.

Organisers: Axel G. Posluschny (Roman‐Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute; Germany) and Martin Gojda (University of West Bohemia; Czech Republic)

Paper and poster proposals can be submitted via the conference website, starting on 1 February, the deadline for submissions is  31 March 2012.

ArchaeoLandscapes Europe would like to introduce 5 new associated partners to our growing network, which will support our work and future activities

- VU (Free University) Amsterdam, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Institute of Geo- and Bioarchaeology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (http://www.falw.vu.nl/en/research/geo-and-bioarchaeology/index.asp):

The Institute provides in three Master variants, namely Archaeometry, Landscape Archaeology and is preparing a variant "Prospective Archaeology". Courses provide training in GIS, close range, airborne and satellite remote sensing, geophysics. The institute is also working on an e-learning curriculum that provides courses on the different Master variants main topics, but also Mineralogy/petrology/geochemistry, Geology and a month field- and/or lab practicals. It has a long standing experience on in-situ documentation, preservation consultancy and monitoring. For that reason they would primarily contribute to WP4, but are interested in all of the other WP's as well.

- Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus, Denmark (http://www.moesmus.dk):

The Moesgaard Museum is located at the same spot as the Department of Prehistoric and Middle Age Archaeology of the University of Aarhus. Aerial photographs and LiDAR are used on a daily basis, and the museum holds a substantial collection of aerial photographs. Within the last 5 years the museum has conducted aerial surveys around Jutland. Landscape studies are a key focus area, especially Neolithic and early Iron Age landscapes. Currently two Neolithic studies are ongoing and a study of Iron Age field systems in old woodlands based on the LiDAR is soon to begin. The museum also conducts geophysical prospection in Denmark and abroad, i.e. on Crimea, and has a department doing pollen analysis, macro fossils analysis, archaeozoology and conservation of artefacts. It will therefor be the ideal partner to connect research and teaching activities in a great variety of prospection and remote sensing techniques and will mainly contribute to WPs 4, 6, and 7.

- The Rathcroghan Heritage Centre, Ireland (http://www.rathcroghan.ie):

The community-based Heritage Centre, which extensively uses remote sensing data in the form of aerial photographs, LiDAR and terrestrial geophysics, in interpreting and presenting a rich archaeological landscape to the public, is the perfect partner to connect archaeological professionals with the interested public and the community sector which is currently slightly under-represented in ArcLand. Its contribution will focus on WPs 2 and 4.

- The Landscape Research Centre, Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom (http://www.landscaperesearchcentre.org):

The Centre, as a very enthusiastic independent research trust, is involved in landscape archaeological research and its presentation both to professionals and the wider public since more than 20 years. It is specialized in the use of integrated methods or surveying and will be able to share its expertise in various fields of archaeological prospection so it will mainly be involved in WPs 2 and 7. LRC is keen both to share its experience and learn from others, through networking meetings, knowledge transfer seminars and information dissemination whether through public lectures, on the internet or on paper.

- Polytechnic Institute of Tomar University (IPT), Tomar, Portugal (http://www.ipt.pt):

The IPT is one of Portugal's leading institutions for archaeological surveying methods and will close the existing gap of institutions in that part of the Iberian Peninsula. IPT will function as a hub to disseminate ArcLand and its activities in Portugal to invite students and scholars to various activities like the planned field school in Merida in June 2012. It will also contribute to the activities of the WPs 7 and 8.

We are happy to welcome our new partners and are looking forward to a fruitful cooperation.

The ArcLand project is happy to announce that five new associated partners have joined the ArcLand project!

It's our pleasure to welcome:

• The Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA) of the Department of Earth and Environment of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in Potenza (IT)
• The Department of Archaeology and Art History of the Leuven University (BE)
• The School of Computing of the University of Leeds (UK)
• The Department of Archaeology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb (HR) and
• The Department of Ancient History and Ancient Cultures Research Centre (ACRC) at Macquarie University Sydney (AU)

as new members of our growing network!

Submissions are requested for an ArcLand session at the 40th CAA 2012 conference in Southampton entitled:

Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs), Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. Achievements, problems and perspectives

• Theoretical issues about representation of archaeological data and SDI technology. Is archaeological data naturally ready for inclusion in a SDI? Compatibility between archaeological data and existing data models. Can, for instance, INSPIRE be extended or complemented to fulfil archaeological information?
• What's going on? Examples of SDI using archaeological data, or cultural heritage information more in general. Developments in other GI which can be used as best practice and point way forward.
• Implications of the SDI field for archaeological practice. Are SDIs going to change anything in archaeology? Specific issues about archaeology: Implications in terms of ethics and differences in legislation.
• Data, metadata and/or services developed for archaeology. Extending and adapting INSPIRE for use in CH. Questions on practical implementation: open source and proprietary software (benefits and drawbacks).

You should submit your paper via the CAA2012 Open Conference System.

The deadline is 11:59pm 30 November 2011. Accepted papers will be announced and conference booking system will open on 21st December 2011. Please note that at least one of the authors of a paper or poster must be registered for and attend the conference. All research presented at CAA2012 may be submitted after the conference for peer review for publication in the conference proceedings. These will be published prior to CAA2013.

We are happy to announce that the ArchaeoLandscapes Europe project was able to expand its consortium and to add further associated partners to build up a growing network of experts and hubs to distribute expert knowledge all over Europe.

The connection with the "National Museum of the Faroer Islands" (Føroya Fornminnissavn; http://www.fornminni.fo) will contribute to develop the knowledge and raise the competence in using modern methods of recording, managing and publishing the rich cultural heritage of the Faroer Islands.

The "Landscape & Geophysical Services" from Ireland (http://www.lgs.ie) have been carrying out terrestrial and waterborne geophysical surveys since 1990, working with geophysical data from over 100 sites in Ireland, will contribute their expert knowledge especially in the fields of geophysical methods for heritage management and presentation.

The "Department of Humanities of the Dundalk Institute of Technology" (http://ww2.dkit.ie/schools_and_departments/business_and_humanities/humanities) will also contribute their expertise in various surveying techniques, especially dealing with lithic scatters, compared to the use of geophysical investigations. Together with "Landscape & Geophysical Services" they will organize a workshop in these fields to foster the spread of this knowledge of these topics in Ireland, especially amongst students and laymen.

Call for papers, posters and videos clips still open

November 14th – 16th 2011, Vienna (City Hall), Austria Urban Archaeology and Prospection

The Stadtarchäologie Wien (Urban Archaeology of Vienna) invites you to present a paper or poster or video clip at the 16th International Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies.

Venue: City Hall of Vienna, Austria

The Call for papers and posters is still open until June, 6th 2011.

The main topic of this Conference is “Urban Archaeology and Prospection“.

Section 1: Prospection, Survey and Data Integration

Section 2: Urban Archaeology – Streets, Roads and Squares