Evaluating contemporary digital technologies for the reconstruction and mapping of archaeological resources

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This PhD proposes to systematically analyse the potential of high resolution multispectral and hyperspectral datasets, collected from both unmanned and spaceborne systems, to investigate their potential to predict near sub-surface sediment architectures of river valley systems, and to utilise this data for the management of heritage assets. Such an innovative and timely approach to the evaluation of purposively collected multi/hyper data to identify these subsurface architectures has the capacity to greatly increase our understanding of the distribution of the increasingly threatened archaeological resources within these complex floodplain sedimentary systems. Arguably, the richest component of the archaeological resource within the UK is housed within the alluvial sediments of river systems, due to a combination of the resource rich palaeoenvironment and the preserving capacity of water logged anaerobic sediments that have infilled these valley systems. Over the last 15 years, geoarchaeological investigation has increasingly utilised remote sensed topographic data sets (e.g. lidar) to investigate complex geomorphological areas, but there has been little corresponding application of other remote sensed data sets, such as multi/hyper spectral bands, to identify geomorphological features and sub-surface sediment architectures to manage cultural assets. The proposed PhD will directly address all three of the SEAHA strands and has direct industry application through assessing the hyper/multi spectral data sets and integrating them into the cultural asset management 'tool kits' of heritage and archaeological professionals.Research questions1 How effective are small-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) and spaceborne multi/hyper spectral data sets at defining archaeological features (ditches/pits, banks, etc) and geomorphological features (e.g. palaeochannels, gravel terraces, etc) within the valley environment?2 Do the spectral responses of multi/hyper spectral data show variation related to the near surface sediment architectures of the geomorphological or archaeological features?3 Can sUAS and spaceborne multi/hyper spectral remotely sensed data sets be used to model the sub-surface sediment conditions, and preservation capacity, of the alluvial sediment sequence by taking advantage of observations from multiple spatial scales?4 Can sUAS and spaceborne approaches be used, synergistically with an understanding of near sub- surface sediment architectures, to form an holistic interpretation of heritage assets; essential for cultural resource management.