Space‑Based Identification of Archaeological Illegal Excavations and a New Automatic Method for Looting Feature Extraction in Desert Areas

Rosa, Lasaponara and Masini, Nicola (2018) Space‑Based Identification of Archaeological Illegal Excavations and a New Automatic Method for Looting Feature Extraction in Desert Areas. Survey in Geophysics, 39 (6). pp. 1323-1346. ISSN 1573-0956

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Abstract

The identification and quantification of disturbance of archaeological sites has been generally approached by visual inspection of optical aerial or satellite pictures. In this paper, we briefly summarize the state of the art of the traditionally satellite-based approaches for looting identification and propose a new automatic method for archaeological looting feature extraction approach (ALFEA). It is based on three steps: the enhancement using spatial autocorrelation, unsupervised classification, and segmentation. ALFEA has been applied to Google Earth images of two test areas, selected in desert environs in Syria (Dura Europos), and in Peru (Cahuachi-Nasca). The reliability of ALFEA was assessed through field surveys in Peru and visual inspection for the Syrian case study. Results from the evaluation procedure showed satisfactory performance from both of the two analysed test cases with a rate of success higher than 90%.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	First Online: 11 June 2018
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Satellite remote sensing · Review · Archaeological looting · Automatic feature extraction · Peru · Syria
Subjects:	600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 620 Ingegneria e attivita' affini > 629 Altri rami dell'ingegneria > 629.1 Ingegneria aerospaziale 900 Storia, Geografia e discipline ausiliarie 900 Storia, Geografia e discipline ausiliarie > 980 Storia generale dei Sudamerica
Depositing User:	Dr. Nicola Masini
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2018 10:28
Last Modified:	30 Oct 2018 10:32
URI:	http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/18306

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