Archaeological aerial thermography: A case study at the Chaco-era Blue J community, New Mexico
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Abstract
Despite a long history of studies that demonstrate the potential of aerial thermography to reveal surface and subsurface cultural features, technological and cost barriers have prevented the widespread application of thermal imaging in archaeology. This paper presents a method for collection of high-resolution thermal imagery using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), as well as a means to efficiently process and orthorectify imagery using photogrammetric software. To test the method, aerial surveys were conducted at the Chaco-period Blue J community in northwestern New Mexico. Results enable the size and organization of most habitation sites to be readily mapped, and also reveal previously undocumented architectural features. Our easily replicable methodology produces data that rivals traditional archaeological geophysics in terms of feature visibility, but which can be collected very rapidly, over large areas, with minimal cost and processing requirements. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Publication Title
Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume
45
Issue
1
First Page
207
Last Page
219
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.015
ISSN
03054403
E-ISSN
10959238
Citation Information
Casana, Kantner, J., Wiewel, A., & Cothren, J. (2014). Archaeological aerial thermography: a case study at the Chaco-era Blue J community, New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science, 45, 207–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.015