Minimally Invasive Approaches to the High‐Resolution Mapping of Colluvial Deposits at the Battlefield of Waterloo

Implications for Archaeological Practice

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6425580
AutoresDuncan Williams (0000-0003-4793-8330, Department of Archaeology & Anthropology Bournemouth University Bournemouth UK), Kate Welham (0000-0002-2057-7101, Department of Archaeology & Anthropology Bournemouth University Bournemouth UK), Stuart James Eve (0000-0003-0677-9812, Bournemouth University), Stuart Eve (Department of Archaeology & Anthropology Bournemouth University Bournemouth UK), Philippe De Smedt (0000-0002-7230-4965, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Ghent University Ghent Belgium)
Año2025
Volumen40
Número2
Fecha de publicación2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGeoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0883-6353 • E-ISSN: 1520-6548
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/gea.70001
OpenAlexW4408287013
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas75

Soil erosion poses a considerable threat to ecosystem services around the world. Among these, it is extremely problematic for archaeological sites, particularly in arable landscapes where accelerated soil degradation has been widely observed. Conversely, some archaeological deposits may obtain a certain level of protection when they are covered by eroded material, thereby lessening the impacts of phenomena such as plow damage or bioturbation. As a result, detailed knowledge of the extent of colluvial deposition is of great value to site management and the development of appropriate methodological strategies. This is particularly true of battlefield sites, where the integrity of artifacts in the topsoil is of great importance and conventional metal detection (with its shallow depth of exploration) is relied upon as the primary method of investigation. Using the Napoleonic battlefield of Waterloo in Belgium as a case study, this paper explores how different noninvasive datasets can be combined with ancillary data and a limited sampling scheme to map colluvial deposits in high resolution and at a large scale. Combining remote sensing, geophysical, and invasive sampling datasets that target related phenomena across spatial scales allows for overcoming some of their respective limitations and derives a better understanding of the extent of colluvial deposition

Ancient history · Archaeology · Battlefield · Colluvium · Geography · Geomorphology · Resolution (logic · 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage · Archaeological Research and Protection · Computer Science · History · Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications · Artificial Intelligence · Geology