Application of Geophysical Methods to Cultural Heritage


Publication: Elements, Vol. 12, No. 1

Author: Roger Sala, Robert Tamba, & Ekhine Garcia

Date of Publication: February 2016

PDF File: Sala-et-al.-2016-Application-of-Geophysical-Methods-to-Cultural-Her.pdf

URL: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.12.1.19

Description


Archaeological geophysics is a vital part of exploring and documenting cultural heritage. Three of the most commonly used techniques are magnetometry, resistivity, and ground penetrating radar. These methods help archaeological geophysicists to unravel the complexity of many archaeological sites, including urban ones, old buildings, and built structures of cultural importance. However, local factors, such as constraints on time, local environment, pre-existing available information, and budgets, all contribute to a given site requiring unique geophysical surveying strategies. Four Spanish-based, but generally applicable, case studies will illustrate key geophysical strategy types for particular local archaeological conditions.