Non-invasive archaeological survey

Following the discovery of a possible hillfort on the ridge to the west of Roundwood promontory fort, Cornwall Archaeological Unit undertook a programme of fieldwalking and geophysical survey across two fields named Kestle and New Close. Fieldwalking led to the identification of a concentration of artefacts in
New Close which included worked stone, flint and abraded unglazed pottery, some of which is of prehistoric and Roman-period date. Although Lidar appeared to confirm the presence of the large enclosure in Kestle field, the geophysical survey did not support this, leaving its identification unresolved. However, a second and previously unsuspected sub-rectangular enclosure was located in New Close.
This note presents a summary of results of the non-invasive surveys which have revealed new information about the use of a previously apparently blank area in the later prehistoric and Roman periods.

Sites Cieszacin Wielki 41, Jankowice 9 and Pawłosiów
55 are located in south-eastern Poland, within the area of
Podkarpackie Voivodeship, on south of Jarosław city. In
terms of geomorphology, it is the area of  the Sandomierz
Basin. In 2009–2011, rescue excavations were carried out
in connection with the construction of the A4 motorway
between  Jarosław  (Wierzbno  interchange)  –  Radymno
(Radymno interchange). In addition, with regard to the
site Jankowice 9, non-invasive geophysical surveys were
conducted in 2009. This publication is a comprehensive
development of the materials from all three sites and it
was established with the support of the Ministry of Culture
and National Heritage under the Cultural Heritage, Prior-
ity 5 – Protection of archaeological heritage. The project
was implemented by the Foundation for Archaeological
Centre  in  Rzeszów  in  collaboration  with  the  University
of Rzeszów and the University of Regensburg.

The article concerns the research of an early medieval fortified settlement in Horbowo-Kolonia, site 10, in the Biała Podlaska district, Lublin voivodeship (AZP 60-88/88-10). The studies were non-invasive and minimally invasive, with the use of geological probing, geophysics and archaeological remote sensing. On their basis, it was established that the fortified settlement in Horbowo is a two- rampart structure with a moat between the ramparts. The main (internal) rampart is made of one row of boxes, with a gate in its eastern part. Apart from the area from the fortified settlement, its immediate vicinity („podgrodzie”) was also examined.

The application of magnetometry in the field of archaeology has meant a clear advance in historical research using non-invasive techniques and a substantial improvement in the interpretation of certain archaeological contexts. From the realization in 2021 of the geophysical campaign in the Roman archaeological site of Torregarcía (Cabo de Gata, Almería), this article presents the theoretical and technical aspects of the equipment used in the data collection, the methodology carried out and, finally, the results obtained during the magnetic prospection.

The stronghold and settlement in Przytok has not been the subject of a larger study so far. After research conducted in the 1960s by Edward Dąbrowski, the only real foot print concerning this site was the term published by the discoverer of the site and the author of the research in the Dictionary of Slavic Antiquities.
Both the settlement and the stronghold were discovered between 1956 and 1964. Rescue excavations were carried out on the settlement in June 1967. At that time, two pits containing fragments of vessels made without using a potter’s wheel were found.
In 2008, a series of aerial photographs, mainly of the stronghold clearly legible from the air, were taken. Further research related to the settlement complex in Przytok has not been carried out until 2016. They were part of a project funded by the National Science Center. Magnetic analysis of the stronghold were carried out then, phosphorus content analyzes and small test excavations verifying geophysical research were also carried out. Thanks to the excavations, Edward Dąbrowski’s results concerning primarily the chronology and function of site 1, were verified, as the lack of publication of sources certainly caused considerable difficulties in evaluation of previous results, especially about the existing of the stronghold and settlement. Filling this gap is therefore the primary goal of this publication.
Beside the analysis of archival finds, enriched by the results of specialist research, the book also presents the results of research on the reconstruction of the basic natural environment in the vicinity of the stronghold and settlement, as well as the settlement complex in Przytok against the background of a wider settlement context. An important part of the publication is also the presentation of issues related to new chronological findings, obtained thanks to the comparative analysis of pottery verified by age determinations using the 14C method.
The stronghold and settlement in Przytok are, next to the settlement in Klenica and the settlements in Stożne and Zawada, another archaeologically recognised sites from the early Middle Ages in the area of the middle Odra river valley.
Early medieval settlement in the vicinity of Przytok was not intensive and probably this condition is not the result of insufficient archaeological recognition of this area, because it is an area thoroughly examined by surface survey and identified by a series of aerial photographs regularly taken for about 10 years. Beside the settlement on the site 2 we know also the settlement in Stożne located about 1600 m northwest of the settlement, site 2, from 6th/7th-7th century and in Zawada from the mid 9th-11th/12th century. Both sites were excavated. These two sites were also recognized by surface survey: in Jany, site 9 where 8 fragments of ceramics were found and in Jany, site 4 where 6 fragments of vessels were obtained, whose chronology was determined to the early stages of the early Middle Ages. Due to the lack of detailed research, the chronology of burial mounds located southwest of the stronghold in Przytok (sites 4 and 5 in Przytok) is problematic.
The current shape of the stronghold is similar to an oval with a diameter of about 70 m. In the terrain, as well as in aerial photographs and DTM, an omnidirectional moat is clearly visible, especially visible from the south, west and north. However, the relics of the rampart are difficult to read.
On the opposite side of the river bed, northwest of the stronghold, about 200 m from it, an older settlement was located, which occupies a slightly elevated dune among the wet and partly bogged valley of the Odra and Zimny Potok, which have springs around the settlement complex. The LIDAR image shows the supposed range of the settlement, which was surrounded by slight elevations (earth moulds?). In the 1960s, small excavations were carried out on the site. Two features were discovered then, one of which was the remains of a residential building. Fills of features were heavily saturated with burning.
Juliusz Twardy and Jacek Forysiak presented a detailed description of the location of the stronghold and settlement in Przytok in the geographical and geomorphological aspect. Both the stronghold and the settlement lie within the floodplain terrace of the basins. The relief of the area of the direct hinterland of the sites is not very varied. In the north and east flows the Odra, which at the beginning of the 18th century meandered on the entire width of the valley. Numerous paleomeanders, currently cut off from the main Odra riverbed due to its regulation, are visible in the trace of the former course of the river. The bend of one of these paleomenadres is occupied by a settlement (site 2), which is separated from the stronghold by a valley about 40 m wide, now a wetland with an unnamed stream. To the north of the settlement, a fragment of the paleomeander now occupies the stream of Zimny Potok, whose source is located on the wetland west of the settlement.
The current landscape is the result of a significant transformation of the area by man, especially in the last 150 years (since the start of drainage of the Odra valley). In addition to open areas, mainly meadows, pastures and arable fields, the landscape is diversified by numerous forest communities in the alluvial type and small clumps mainly of oaks.
The area south of the sites changes into a high terrace and a zone of frontal moraine hills, now covered with pine monocultures and occasionally with mixed forests.
Non-invasive geophysical surveys were carried out on both the settlement and the stronghold. In the first case they brought the discovery of magnetic anomalies, which, due to the verrifying excavation trench, can now be quite clearly interpreted as relics of small rampart surrounding the stronghold, made of earth and wood. On the stronghold courtyard few traces were recorded, requiring excavation verification. At the current stage of research, it is difficult to clearly determine their origin.
Research on the remains of the settlement brought the discovery of numerous magnetic anomalies of varying origin. They allow to draw several hypotheses regarding the shape and function of the settlement. However, full understanding of the obtained results requires invasive verification excvations. This will allow for a more accurate recognition of the nature of the features and archaeological layers located on the site. Excavations may also provide answers to a number of more detailed questions, especially regarding the time of construction and functioning of the settlement.
In the stronghold, analyzes were also made of the phosphorus content in the soil. The analysis did not document the increased content of phosphorus in the soil within the outlines of relics of the fortified settlement in Przytok, which could constitute a geochemical trace of intensive settlement and economic activity in the past. The spread of the highest, but also sporadically recorded, values ​​covers areas adjacent to the site from the south. The obtained results of geochemical prospectus may suggest the refugial nature of the object. At the same time, it should be emphasized that, carried out in recent years, surrounded by castle strongholds located at the bottom of the Warta, Luciąża and Warsaw-Berlin valleys, tests of phosphorus content in the ground have resulted in the registration of a generally poor geochemical record in the surroundings of the features.
The elaboration of the results of archival research concerned both movable artefactss, mainly fragments of vessels, wooden items, animal bones and artefacts made of stone material, as well as analysis of the relics of the rampart and the few features that are remains of the structures of the stronghold courtyard and the nearby settlement.
In the case of wooden artefacts, attempts were made to recognize the type of artefacts, the way they were made, the nature of deposition, the specifics of the selection of wood raw material, as well as  environmental conditions and potential directions of logging. The analyzed samples came from  moat and were mostly waste generated during carpentry works related to the construction of wood and earth rampart of the stronghold in Przytok.
Assemblage of the stone artefacts from Przytok is an example of a typical set of everyday items, often obtaines during the research on sites from the early Middle Ages. Regarding the use of raw materials, selection in terms of rock hardness and technical properties is clearly visible. None of the tested products was made of weathered rock, which proves the correct selection of the right raw material from glacial material.
Pottery analysis especially, supported by radiocarbon dating results, allowed the chronological considerations to be verified. Currently, dating of the stronghold functioning can be determined in the second half of the 8th-first half of the 9th century. In contrast, the settlement may be even older. Fragments of pottery discovered there allow to date the settlement to the end of the 7th-8th century.
The analysis and publishing of this publication were possible thanks to the co-financing of research by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, under the Protection of Archaeological Monuments program and the Archaeological Museum of the Middle Odra river Area in Zielona Góra and funds from the City of Zielona Góra. Part of the research results presented in the publication, including geophysical, phosphoric, 14C dating of wooden rampart and excavations carried out on the stronghold in 2016 were completed and financed due to the National Science Center grant FUGA 4 (UMO-2015/16/S/HS3/00274), Early medieval settlement in the middle Odra river basin until the mid-11th century in archaeological studies.

The article presents the results of non-invasive studies of a stone tower located within the village  Vesele, Berislavsky district of  Kherson region, near the dam of Kakhovskaya HPP and traditionally associated with the activities of Vytautas the Great. This monument has never been explored archaeologically, practically unknown in the scientific literature and is not mentioned in historical sources.

This article presents an interpretation of results of a geophysical survey campaign conducted in Ostia Antica, the principal port-town of the Roman Empire, in May 2015, which focused on the unexcavated area in the southwest part of the city. The surveys formed part of the ‘Neighbourhoods of Roman Ostia’ study conducted by Hanna Stöger.  The project was committed to non-invasive methods in archaeology and aimed to reconstruct urban neighbourhoods from a long-term perspective. The investigated area runs parallel to the southern extent of Ostia’s cardo maximus, and lies directly behind the city blocks, IV, i-iv, and offers an important insight into the previously unknown extent of the city’s urban fabric. An additional targeted study was carried out in the Terme del Faro (IV, ii, 1).

The project, developed in collaboration between the Department of History and Culture- DISCI of the University of Bologna, the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio delle Marche and the Comune di Ascoli Piceno, took place in 2019 during the restoration of the area of San Pietro in Castello. The non-invasive survey was carried out using methodologies related to rescue archaeology and
urban archaeology for the purpose of reconstructing the historical and
archaeological development of this urban area. The considerations described in this paper are preliminary since the study is still in progress.

The article is a report on the results of the first campaign conducted in the Athenaion of Poseidonia-Paestum by the University of Salerno as part of a three-year concession granted by the Italian Ministry of Heritage (2018-2020). The field investigations were started in 2018. They are the final outcome of a series of studies on the metal materials from the “Stipi di Cerere” (hoards of Ceres), unearthed in the 1928, 1929, 1937, and 1939 excavations directed by A. Maiuri. These studies included an examination of all the previous documentation, which had revealed the potential of further investigations, to be implemented both through non-invasive testing and by resuming excavation. It was evident that the old excavations in the sanctuary had not always reached down to the virgin travertine bank. Between June and September 2018, geophysical tests and two trial pits revealed part of a trench of the 1930s excavations, as well as layers with dates between the late sixth and early fifth century BC, only partly disturbed by early digging. The results achieved have opened new research perspectives not only on the history of the temple but also on the early years of the history of Poseidonia.

The Gebelein archaeological site complex is located 28 km southwest of Luxor, on the western bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate in Egypt. Practically all kinds of archaeological sites known in Egypt are represented in the site complex, dating from the Paleolithic through the Islamic Period.
Modern expansion of the cultivation zone and settlement development is threatening the survival of many of the sites, hence the project proposes to investigate the site complex with a new form of comprehensive field survey.
The novelty of the method depends on combining the results of gathering, managing, storing, post-processing and interpreting different types of individual data from the field. The team has carried out a magnetic prospection of selected parts of the site and combined the
results with an analysis of data coming from a number of other research and survey methods, including most recently an anthropological and ceramological survey.

Grodziska średniowieczne stanowią niezwykle cenne zabytki dziedzictwa archeologicznego. Są świadectwem rozwiniętej organizacji społecznej, zmieniających się granic plemiennych i państwowych, miejscem rozgrywania się wydarzeń o zasięgu ponadregionalnym, zarówno tych anonimowych, jak i znanych ze źródeł historycznych. Opuszczone fortyfikacje, widoczne dzięki swojej przestrzennej formie terenowej, przez kolejne stulecia otaczane były szczególną troską przez lokalne społeczności, z czasem przyciągając zainteresowanie badaczy.
Niestety niektóre z nich, położone nizinnie, zlokalizowane na obszarach intensywnie użytkowanych rolnie, zostały mocno zniszczone, często osiągając stan gdy relikty umocnień nie są czytelne w terenie. Upowszechnienie nowych metod prospekcji pozwoliło ukazać te założenia w nowym świetle, dostarczając danych na temat ich relacji z otaczającym krajobrazem, pozwalając na rozpoznanie ich zasięgu, formy, czy zastosowanych budulców, a także dostarczając informacji na temat organizacji przestrzennej wewnątrz i w najbliższym otoczeniu. 
W 2013 r. zainicjowano projekt inwentaryzacji i nieinwazyjnego rozpoznania śląskich założeń obronnych. W pierwszej kolejności do badań wytypowano obiekty najgorzej zachowane. Scenariusz działań był oparty o źródła charakterystyczne dla nurtu archeologii krajobrazu np. dawne mapy, zdjęcia lotnicze, obrazy satelitarne, lotnicze skanowanie terenu. Na dwóch obiektach, w Chrzelicach (pow. prudnicki, woj. opolskie) i w Borucinie (pow. raciborski, woj. śląskie), wykonano ponadto badania geomagnetyczne. Projekt zaowocował nie tylko rozpoznaniem poszczególnych stanowisk, ale także wypracowaniem niedrogiej, szybkiej i efektywnej procedury badawczej.

The article focuses on the process of integrated research with a standardised package of procedures and applied methods that are adapted to specific conditions, i.e. the geological features, presumed archaeological structures, research goals and so forth. This allows us to verify the results of previously applied
methods and at the same time gather new data. The research can be divided into desk work, which includes historical analysis and analyses of the data obtained through remote sensing methods such as airborne laser scanning, and subsequent fieldwork. The latter is based on previous analyses and data brought together in a GIS environment, and is conducted in the field by adding new layers of information, while at the same time ‘ground truthing’ the already gathered data. Geophysical methods hold pride of place in such research and in this article, which aims to emphasize their complementary, but also complex nature. Also important are the low-invasive methods of examining the subsurface, crucial for the understanding of individual archaeological situations / V prispevku predstavljamo potek integriranih raziskav s standardiziranim naborom postopkov oz. apliciranih metod, ki pa jih prilagajamo glede na naravne danosti, predvidene arheološke strukture, cilje raziskav in drugo. Na takšen način z vsako izmed metod sočasno preverjamo izpovednost rezultatov predhodno uporabljenih in pridobivamo nove podatke. Potek raziskav lahko ločimo na kabinetni del, k čemur prištevamo med drugim historično analizo in analize podatkov, pridobljenih z metodami daljinskega zaznavanja, kot je na primer zračno lasersko skeniranje. Rezultati njihovih analiz in združevanja podatkov v GIS okolju so osnova za nadaljnje delo na terenu, s katerim dodajamo nove sloje podatkov in terensko preverjamo predhodno pridobljene. Pomembno mesto imajo tukaj geofizikalne metode, ki jim je namenjen velik del prispevka, saj želimo s tem izpostaviti njihovo komplementarnost, a tudi kompleksnost, pa tudi nizkoinvazivni posegi v podpovršinske
plasti, ki so izrednega pomena za razumevanje posameznih
arheoloških situacij

Abstract
The sample area for our study, the Late Neolithic site of
Szemely–Hegyes (Baranya County) has been a target of
our archaeological research for the last 10 years. Th
e two enclosure complexes have raised numerous questions
concerning their function, structure, and chronological relations. Since 2005 we could obtain aerial
photography, geophysical survey, trial
excavations, and LIDAR survey
data of the site. As a result, we are able
to analyze all the data combined. Base
d on a recent idea by Béla Simon we ca
me to the conclusion that precision
agriculture datasets may also be indicative of archae
ological phenomena since the vegetation and crop quality
are the basic characteristics of the archaeological interpretation of aerial photography. A local agricultural
company provided us with the datasets of the sample area for the years 2013 and 2014. The data show a real
connection between the vegetation and the archaeological features: above the ditches of the rondels the amount
of the harvested crops increased, although the datasets of the two years show significant differences. These
anomalies were surely caused by the weather conditions; the archaeological features show up only in the 2013
data when rainfall was significantly lower, and the maize produced the worse of the two harvest results.