1,721,090 research outputs found
Remote and close range sensing for the automatic identification and characterization of archaeological looting. The case of Peru
No full textLooting is the major source of artefacts for the antiquities market. Specific measures are needed to fight the whole chain of the illicit activities undertaken by criminal organizations (from the excavation to the selling of the artefacts), and they should be devised for each phase of such illegal activities. The development and use of appropriate technologies for the identification of the most 'vulnerable' sites, and the timely detection and automatic quantification of the extension of the looted areas are crucial steps for setting up a monitoring system working also for remote and inaccessible archaeological areas, often in regions affected by armed conflicts or characterized by flight restrictions. In this context, Earth Observation (EO) technologies can provide reliable information: (i) to quantify the looting phenomenon even if it is on an 'industrial scale' over large areas, and (ii) to set up a systematic monitoring tool to trace the illicit trade in antiquities. In this paper, an improvement of the Archaeological Looting Feature Extraction Approach (ALFEA) -developed by the same authors in 2018- is proposed to further improve the ability in the automatic identification and extraction of looting features for heterogeneous desert landscapes, characterized not only by looting patterns but also by archaeological micro-relief and emerging remains, as well as by natural geomorphological features and the presence of structures and dirt pathways, which exhibit a similar spectral behavior but dimensions, morphology, and/or geometric patterns different from those linked to looting. The improvement of ALFEA (ALFEA-I) was applied in significant test areas considered among the most important archaeological sites in Peru, (i) Pachacamac close to Lima, and (ii) Ventarron in the Lambayeque region Northern Peru. The first site is characterized by past clandestine excavations and looting is difficult to recognize both in situ and from satellite image; the second site is affected by more recent archaeological disturbances due to grave robberies, easier to identify from remote sensing data. The original ALFEA -composed of the sequential integration of spatial autocorrelation statistics, unsupervised classification, and segmentation- has been herein refined by adding a processing step based on multi-threshold parameters of segmentation, thus improving the performance in terms of extraction capability of looting features in case of heterogeneous areas. Tthe integration of satellite based data processing with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based close range acquisitions has proved to be effective in enhancing the visibility of old looting features, crucial for the validation of ALFEA-I
Full-waveform Airborne Laser Scanning for the detection of medieval archaeological microtopographic relief
No full textThis paper focuses on the detection and spatial characterization of microtopographic relief linked to archaeological remains using full-waveform (FW) Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS). ALS is an optical measurement technique for obtaining high-precision information on the Earth's surface including basic terrain mapping, such as Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and Digital Surface Model (DSM). In the field of cultural heritage management, ALS can provide detailed information useful for feature extraction, but the detection of archaeological microtopographic relief is still a challenge especially for vegetated and highly sloped areas. The investigation was carried out for the archaeological area of Monte Irsi (Southern Italy) characterized by dense herbaceous cover and complex topographical and morphological features, which make air/space prospection very difficult. Results from our investigations pointed out that ALS is a valuable data source to detect and map cultural features even under dense vegetation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved
Satellite and close range analysis for the surveillance and knowledge improvement of the Nasca geoglyphs
Full text linkTraditionally the history of remote sensing began during the First World War when aerial photography became a valuable reconnaissance tool. However, moving back more than a thousand years, the real pioneers of remote observation were probably the Nasca, a pre-Hispanic civilization living in southern Peru, between 100BC and 700 AD. They used ‘earth observation’ as a mean of cultural expression drawing the geoglyphs (known as Nasca Lines) only visible from above. These drawings were made on flat desert surface of the Pampa by removing or clearing sand or stones, to create paths for ritual functions to please the gods and create harmonious relationships between man and environment. In this paper, the Nasca geoglyphs in Pampa de Atarco, are object of remote sensing based investigations with the twofold aim to identify and characterize them as well as to analyse and monitor their fragile state of conservation, threatened mainly by vandalism and off road vehicles. The approach herein proposed includes the integration and reuse of diverse remote sensing dataset, from multispectral satellite to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based LSAR data and close range photogrammetry. In particular, a multidate (2002–2013) very high resolution (VHR) optical satellite dataset has been processed in the spatial and temporal domain using textural indicators, including Skewness, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and automatic classification tools which allowed us to enhance the visibility of disturbance features and to automatically extract them. The best results in terms of enhancement and automatic extraction capability of disturbance features have been obtained by Skewness. Moreover, the reuse of UAV L SAR-based correlation map, available free of charge from NASA, provided useful information on the state of disturbance from 2013 to 2015, widening the observation time window of the VHR satellite data set from 2002 to 2013. Finally, the integrated use of satellite VHR data with UAV-based photographs and DTMs, processed using structure from motion (SfM), allowed us to characterize, identify and reconstruct the relative chronological sequence of geoglyphs thus providing new insights and opening new perspectives for archaeological studies
Some examples of GPR prospecting for monitoring of the monumental heritage
No full textIn this paper three case histories of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for the monitoring of historical buildings are presented. They aim to present the specific valence of the GPR in the field of the diagnostic of historical buildings, which is a promising field of research, due to the increasing awareness of the relevance (even economic) of the cultural heritage. The presented GPR prospecting cases have been performed on three different constructive elements typical of historical buildings (a wall, a masonry pillar and a marble column) in order to be the answer to different problems such as the characterization of the masonry, the detection of cracks and the imaging of metallic reinforcement bars
Some examples of GPR prospecting for monitoring of the monumental heritage
No full textIn this paper three case histories of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for the monitoring of historical buildings are presented. They aim to present the specific valence of the GPR in the field of the diagnostic of historical buildings, which is a promising field of research, due to the increasing awareness of the relevance (even economic) of the cultural heritage. The presented GPR prospecting cases have been performed on three different constructive elements typical of historical buildings (a wall, a masonry pillar and a marble column) in order to be the answer to different problems such as the characterization of the masonry, the detection of cracks and the imaging of metallic reinforcement bars
Metodi integrati di indagine non invasiva per lo studio delle tecniche costruttive e il restauro: il caso del rosone della Cattedrale di Troia
No full textQuando il linguaggio non è letterale. Perché nelle lingue due più due non fa sempre quattro.
No full textIl capitolo affronta la questione della non-composizionalità semantica nel lingue. Sono discusse le espressioni idiomatiche e metaforiche, che hanno un significato non deducibile dalla somma delle parti. Sono inoltre trattate la metafora concettuale (à la Lakoff & Johnson) e la metonimia
Le lingue influenzano il nostro modo di pensare? Parole, concetti, categorie: il nostro sistema cognitivo è relativo?
No full textIl capitolo affronta l'antica questione del rapporto tra linguaggio e pensiero, tra parole e concetti, ripercorrendo la storia della teoria del relativismo linguistico (o ipotesi Sapir-Whorf) e accennando ad alcuni sviluppi recenti
Remote Sensing and Integration with Other Geomatic Techniques in Archaeology
No full textArchaeologists can today interact ever more closely with the modern sciences of surveying, which as a whole may fall under the name of Geomatics. A scientific approach to Archaeology may be in fact reflected in the first place in the adoption of methods, both objective and based on rigorous criteria and tools, for knowing and describing the goods. Remote Sensing, as a technique for surveying a site from a distance by means of special detectors and using management methods based on mathematical and physical models, is by nature a practical expression of this phenomenon, whether it is meant in the most common meaning of use of satellite data or extending its acceptation to aerial photogrammetry. The paper will review some of the issues related to the use of Remote Sensing in the archaeological context, but particularly in relation to other disciplines of Geomatics; Remote Sensing is not, as noted, a technique that is “self contained” and restricted in its scientific and technical areas independently, but it relies on the wealth of other techniques and scientific fields, and they must fit perfectly, especially for archaeology applications which have by nature a highly multidisciplinary vocation
#scritturebrevi. Linguaggio e nuovi media
No full textDescrizione e sintetica classificazione di fenomeni linguistici della comunicazione digitale con riferimento all'etichetta metalinguistica di "scritture brevi" (www.scritturebrevi.it
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