Remote sensing in archaeology : a brief review

Abstract EN

In recent years remote sensing has become one of the most frequently used techniques in archaeology.

As a modern technology, its history rooted in the 19th century, fundamentally to record the landscape and its structures through remote sensing photography system.

With its various techniques in the field of archaeology, remote sensing offers the rapid acquisition of a huge quantity of metric and qualitative data in order to identify or describe archaeological sites.

Archaeological remote sensing application help, with the creation of maps and obtaining useful data for the detection of buried archaeological sites that are related to the physical and environmental parameters.

Another potential use of the technique by the archaeologists is to identify and interpret land use patterns as well as the monitoring and preservation of cultural resources.

The remote sensing system is a multi-disciplinary science which composed of many other technologies from other disciplines and all act as one complete system known as Remote Sensing.

Multiple studies have successfully proved the effectiveness of the remote sensing in archaeology to reveal known and unknown archaeological sites.

Yet, to our knowledge, the use of such non-destructive technique in the field of archaeology is very limited in our studies, especially by the local researchers.

Regarding Iraqi Kurdistan region very few researches relied on remote sensing techniques in their studies and almost all the studies, which used the technique, done by foreign teams.

Regarding this point of view, the main reason would be the lack of information by the local researchers or the difficulty of accessing the satellite images.

The main purpose of this paper is to present a brief overview of the use of remote sensing with its main principles in archaeological research and site discoveries.