The large-scale archaeological prospection
Case Study Uppåkra conducted by the
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology and its Swedish partners
Riksantikvarieämbetet UV in collaboration with
Prof. Larsson and colleagues from Lund University, supported by
Stiftelsen Uppåkra Arkeologiska Center has mapped over the course of four weeks in 2010 and 2011 in total
1.75 square kilometres of area using high-resolution magnetometer measurements,
10 hectares of area using high-definition georadar measurements and some
40 square kilometres using latest
full-waveform airborne laser scanning technology.
Our partner
Airborne Technologies will fly
in the coming days additionally an
hyperspectral scanning survey over Uppåkra. The airborne surveys have been funded by
Torsten Söderbergs Stiftelse.
The
geophysical prospection measurements have been highly successful. In 2011 the seminary excavation of Lund University confirmed the georadar results showing a circular grave structure with central, east-west oriented stone packing in front of Uppåkra church yard to a
very high degree.
Further archaeological prospection work will be conducted at Uppåkra in August/September 2012.
The processing, analysis and archaeological interpretation of the prospection data is work in progress.
Scientific and popular articles covering the work and results are in preparation.
A first report of the results from the survey conducted in 2010 in form of a
Diploma Thesis has been published at Vienna University in German language (
low-resolution PDF).
In Swedish language first
information on the project, as well as descriptions of the
georadar measurements, the
magnetometer prospection and
terrestrial laser scanning have been made available.
The same technology has been used at Gamla Uppsala within the framework of a Riksantikvarieämbetet FoU project, and the results, including the discovery of the pit alignments, are described
here in Swedish language.
The
second Swedish archaeological prospection Case Study covers the entire UNESCO world cultural heritage site of Birka-Hovgården, where already in 2008 a
new motorized Swedish georadar system had been successfully tested. The in northern Sweden developed
MALÅ Imaging Radar Array has helped to redefine the way how
modern archaeological research is conducted.