Archaeological Map

This article offers an attempt to compile an archaeological map of the South-Western Crimea drawing on
extensive archival material. The man focuses of the study is on medieval churches located in the valleys of the
Alma and Kacha rivers. Based on the archival data available, I have been able to locate 62 cave and ground
churches.
In course of my work, I have addressed a number of shortcomings of earlier studies. First, over the years,
significant archaeological material has accumulated that, due to unclear circumstances, was not made properly
accessible for academic study. These materials are nowadays stored across a variety of archives and stock
collections (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Bakhchisarai). The compilation offered
brings together these scattered data for the first time. Second, there were numerous inaccurate and obscure
topographical names of location of churches, either duplicated or not specified. These have been clarified and
amended. Thirdly, I have offered updates on visual archiving of the churches that have been insufficiently
competent or outright incorrect, with pool illustrative material. Forth, structural classification of cave churches
was also elaborated. Lastly, through the analysis of the data, I was able to argue for new overall dating of the
churches. Cultic Christian buildings in the Alma Valley date to the 8th–13th cc., in the Kachinskaya Valley 9th–
15th cc.
It also followed from the archive data analysis that the cluster of churches in two river valleys –
Alminskaya (13 units) and Kachinskaya (49 units) – are mutually different. The quantitative variation of
structures there also manifests itself in the variety of the types of churches. There are 4 cave and 9 ground
churches in the Alminskaya Valley, 7 cave and 35 ground churches in the Kachinskaya. It proved impossible
to typologically identify only 7 churches located in the Kachinskaya Valley. In terms of their structural
planning, the ground churches are predominantly single-nave, single-apse buildings, two of which were rebuilt
into cruciform churches of various datings. In the Kachinskaya Valley, there is also a three-nave, three-apse
cross-domed church.

The article attempts to supplement the existing database of archaeological sites of Afghanistan, based on the data presented in the seminal book by W. Ball, as well as on recently published materials of the Soviet-Afghan archaeological expedition (by I. T. Kruglikova). These data are considered at a new level, using methods of remote sensing and multi-scale topographic maps of the region previously difficult to access for studying. The object of the research was the area of the valley of the Murghab river and its two right tributaries: Chapnal (Qaisar) and Kurutu Arik. Through the comparison of the complex data it's become possible to increase significantly the number of firmly localized sites of different eras, as well as specify some issues of historical and geographical nature.

The author considers the issues of study and preservation of such important cultural heritage sites as archaeological monuments. A total of over 5 thousand monuments have been identified and examined in Tatarstan, and they represent a vast source of information on the history of people inhabiting the territory of the Middle Volga region. The author have determined the directions for preservation of the archaeological heritage for our descendants and their introduction into contemporary life. State historical and cultural expert review conducted in the area of earthworks during construction, restoration, reconstruction, oil and gas development activities have allowed to bring the preservation of archaeological heritage to a higher level. International principles for the cultural heritage preservation are being actively implemented.

In the system of archaeological knowledge, the concept of “archaeological culture” is an essential theoretical construct determining the gnosiological capabilities and the direction of its development as a science concerning the past of mankind as a whole. At the same time, the “archaeological culture” concept has remained the main theoretical tool designed for studying, describing and reconstructing the historical past. Archaeological culture is a characteristic link between the monuments of a dead and fossil culture and the living past, due to which the humanitarians have an opportunity to compare archaeological data with that of other related sciences, allowing to compare archaeological traces and remnants of a past life and the data of other source study disciplines in order to reconstruct the life of the humanity within the framework of historical narratives. Archaeological monuments with specific characteristic features combined into a single areal can be regarded as the Bolgar archaeological culture left by the population of Volga Bolgaria. Studies of these monuments have allowed to revealed not only a variety of materials pertaining to all aspects of the life of the medieval population, but also, if compared with other materials, fill in the gaps and reveal numerous previously unknown pages of the history and culture of Volga Bolgaria.

"Contents INTRODUCTION M. Santana Quintero 1 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND GEOMATIC NEEDS 1.1 3D modeling in archaeology and cultural heritage – Theory and best practice S. Campana 1.2 Geomatic and cultural heritage F. Remondino 1.3 3D modelling and shape analysis in archaeology J.A. Barceló 2 LASER/LIDAR 2.1 Airborne laser scanning for archaeological prospection R. Bennet 2.2 Terrestrial optical active sensors – theory & applications G. Guidi 3 PHTOGRAMMETRY 3.1 Photogrammetry: theory F. Remondino 3.2 UAV: Platforms, regulations, data acquisition and processing F. Remondino 4 REMOTE SENSING 4.1 Exploring archaeological landscapes with satellite imagery N. Galiatzatos 5 GIS 5.1 2D GIS vs. 3D GIS theory G. Agugiaro 6 VIRTUAL REALITY & CYBERARCHAEOLOGY 6.1 Virtual reality, cyberarchaeology, teleimmersive archaeology M. Forte 6.2 Virtual reality & cyberarchaeology – virtual museums S. Pescarin 7 CASE STUDIES 7.1 3D Data Capture, Restoration and Online Publication of Sculpture B. Frischer 7.2 3D GIS for Cultural Heritage sites: The QueryArch3D prototype G. Agugiaro & F. Remondino 7.3 The Use of 3D Models for Intra-Site Investigation in Archaeology N. Dell’Unto

In 2015 ARGEOgraph created the Archaeological Predictive Map of Saba for the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Science. This map has been made available to the Saba Archaeological Center (SABARC) and the Sint Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR) in GIS format (shape files). Directly printable pdf files of the map in A3 (scale 1 : 25 000) and B1 format (1 : 10 000) can be downloaded. Additionally, a colophon presenting information on approach, sources and precision can be downloaded.