Birger Stichelbaut
Biographic Data
| ID | 184016 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Birger Stichelbaut |
| GIVEN NAMES | Birger |
| FAMILY NAME | Stichelbaut |
| SIGNATURE | STICHELBAUT B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ghent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9841-1489 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 118 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Allied prisoner-of-war camps in Belgium at the end of World War Two
This study investigates Allied prisoner-of-war (POW) camps in Belgium from 1944 to 1948, focusing on their location, structure, and archaeological relevance. Using archival research, historical aerial photography, and LiDAR analysis, 63 sites were identified and assessed. These largely overlooked camps, where German POWs contributed to post-war reconstruction through agriculture and mining, are evaluated for archaeological potential via a new met…
British glass consumption during World war one in the Ypres Salient (Belgium): An archaeological contribution
Glass finds are a common feature of archaeological excavations in the context of World War One (WWI). In spite of this, only little attention is paid to this material category. The main aim of this article is therefore to explore the type of information that can be gained from the study of glass and to emphasise the importance and added value of well-developed research into material finds at WWI sites. The study itself is based on a traditional m…
Digging deeper is always rewarding. Policy instruments, challenges and recent research on conflict archaeology, WWI and WWII in Flanders
In 2017, the government of Flanders decided to award yearly grants for synthesising research on archaeological data produced via development-led archaeology in Flanders (Belgium). At present, no less than 34 archaeological projects have been financially supported this way. Three of those projects deal with the archaeology of modern conflicts. The project 'Conflict archaeology of the Second World War in Flanders' will be discussed in more detail. …
LiDAR and conflict archaeology: The Battle of the Bulge (1944-1945)
Although conflict archaeology is now well established, the archaeological remains of many specific military confrontations are still to be explored. This article reports the results of fieldwork to document the site of the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944-25 January 1945). The authors use drone-mounted 1m-resolution LiDAR and very high-resolution simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) methods to reveal more than 940 features within the…
Winter camp’ 1917: Integrated conflict archaeology on the Messines Ridge 1914-1918 (Belgium)
Integrated research using aerial photography, proximal soil sensing, historical research and excavations of an unusual First World War site in Flanders (Belgium) is presented. Aerial photography revealed a grid of 5x6 huts unusually close to the front line. Geophysical research indicates good preservation of these structures. A targeted excavation was carried out. The results give insight into the structure of a military camp built in autumn 1917…
Towards an inclusive curation of WWI heritage: Integrating historical aerial photographs, digital museum applications and landscape markers in “Flanders Fields” (Belgium)
Purpose Over a century of state-sponsored construction of monuments, historic mythmaking and nationalist framings of WWI has ensured that it has become notoriously difficult to present the heritage of the Great War in an inclusive and non-selective way. In this paper the authors present a strategy and technology-driven solutions to overcome the selective heritage curation of modern conflict. Design/methodology/approach Building on a suite of tool…
Understanding the landscape dynamics from a devastated to revived cultural landscape: The case of the First World War in Flanders through the lens of landscape patterns
Using the past to indicate the possible presence of relics in the present-day landscape: The Western Front of the Great War in Belgium
The First World War (WWI) had a notable influence on the landscape at the former Western Front in Belgium. Research on a landscape scale is necessary to understand the destructive and constructive impact of the war and its consequences for the post-war landscape in a holistic manner. This paper focuses on the trajectory and impact analysis of three study areas with contrasting landscape types and aims to indicate possible preserved military relic…
Revealing the preservation of First World War shell hole landscapes based on a landscape change study and LiDAR
The surface scars of the First World War (WWI; 1914–1918) are rapidly disappearing due to modern and fast changing landscapes. Therefore, there is a need to monitor landscape relicts that mark our past. This study examines depressions caused by shelling. These shell holes are still present today and are one of the last remains of the military impact during the 4 years long stalemate on the Western Front. Shell hole landscapes are until now overlo…
The archaeology of world war I tanks in the Ypres Salient (Belgium): A non‐invasive approach
In the past decade, the research of archaeological remains from World War I has become mainstream. This article uses non‐destructive techniques to investigate the possible material remains of tank warfare in Belgium. During World War I, tanks were used for the first time as a ‘land battleship’ in order to break through the stalemate in the trenches. During the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of Ypres (1917), tanks were used in Belgium to …
Evaluation of fluxgate magnetometry and electromagnetic induction surveys for subsurface characterization of archaeological features in World War 1 battlefields
Geophysical prospection as a noninvasive archaeological survey technique has become a widely applied discipline that is currently finding its way into the former World War 1 (WW1) battlefields. Because of the imminent danger of unexploded ordnances, noninvasiveness is the key to exploring the subsurface containing our buried heritage. Fluxgate magnetometry (FGM), a frequently applied prospection technique in archaeology and unexploded ordnance de…
Non-invasive research of tunneling heritage in the Ypres Salient (1914–1918) – research of the Tor Top tunnel system
Removal of sensor tilt noise in fluxgate gradiometer survey data by applying one‐dimensional wavelet filtering
Archaeological prospection with magnetometer instruments is performed in a wide range of field configurations, ranging from single probe setups to mobile arrays that allow combining multiple sensors. The latter type, whereby instruments are mounted onto a cart system, are particularly prone to motion‐induced noise. Sensor tilt, for example, causes in‐line noise that can obscure magnetic variations present. To remediate these effects, image proces…
The Ypres Salient 1914-1918: Historical Aerial Photography and the Landscape of War
Conflict Landscapes and Archaeology from Above
Historical Aerial Photography and Multi‐receiver EMI Soil Sensing, Complementing Techniques for the Study of a Great War Conflict Landscape
In spite of an increase in World War I (WWI)‐related excavations in Flanders (Belgium), little is known about the nature and extent of the buried heritage of WWI from research on a landscape scale. This paper examines the combination of historical aerial photographic evidence and geophysical soil sensing. A case study in Comines‐Warneton compares data derived from contemporary WWI aerial photographs with multi‐receiver electromagnetic induction s…
The Characterization of a Former World War I Battlefield by Integrating Multiple Signals from a Multireceiver EMI Soil Sensor
World War I (WWI) battlefields contain a large diversity of buried features that are situated just below the plough layer. A noninvasive interdisciplinary approach is preferred to characterize the buried heritage embedded within its soil landscape. In this study, the potential of integrating both electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements from a multireceiver electromagnetic induction (EMI) instrument at a heavily shelled WW…
Integrating Archaeology and Landscape Analysis for the Cultural Heritage Management of a World War I Militarised Landscape: The German Field Defences in Antwerp
The approaching centenary of the start of World War I and the booming cultural tourism at the former Western Front in Belgium, combined with recent urbanisation and agricultural intensification processes, have promoted the demand for a more effective and sustainable heritage management. In addition, there is need for interdisciplinary research on how war and socio-natural landscapes reciprocally reproduce each other in time and space. The focus o…
From Landscape of War to Archaeological Report: Ten Years of Professional World War I Archaeology in Flanders (Belgium)
With the commemoration of World War I (WWI) under way, a preliminary stocktaking can be made of archaeological research into the physical remains of this war. The question is to what extent the perspective on the study of WWI heritage, and consequently the way in which archaeological research into WWI remains has been conducted, has evolved over the last ten years. Are relics from WWI seen as a legitimate subject of inquiry or does its archaeolog…
An Archaeological Landscape in the Dzhazator Valley (Altai Mountains): Surface Monuments and Petroglyphs from the Chalcolithic to the Ethnographic Period
Analysis of the organization of archaeological sites in the Dzhazator valley reveals patterns from the Chalcolithic to the Ethnographic period. There is a relationship between the monuments and petroglyphs in the Bronze Age, with a preference for the northern bank in the lower valley. In the early Iron Age and Turkic periods, all parts of the valley were used. The analysis reveals a distinction between the northern and the southern bank, where th…
An Interdisciplinary Non‐invasive Approach to Landscape Archaeology of the Great War
The prospection and evaluation of former battlefields of the Great War or the First World War (WW I) poses specific challenges. For several reasons, large‐scale excavation campaigns of this conflict landscape are problematic. The vastness of the former Western Front (one of the largest archaeological sites in the world), the large amounts of buried unexploded ordnance and the possible presence of human remains hinder invasive practices. As an alt…
Development-led archaeology in Flanders: An Overview of Practices and Results in the Period 1990–2010
Towards an Integrated Methodology for Assessing Rural Settlement Landscapes in the Belgian Lowlands
Although the Belgian lowlands witnessed a dense rural occupation in Roman and especially in medieval times, the exact nature of the settlement patterns, the farms and the interaction with the landscape is still poorly understood archaeologically, both scientifically and from a heritage curatorship point of view. Archaeogeophysical research has remained relatively limited in this area. However, other prospection techniques such as aerial photograp…
Historic Aerial Photographic Archives for European Archaeology
This article reviews the potential of archives of historic aerial photographs for European archaeology. Their roles in primary site discovery, in monitoring condition and material change, and in understanding landscape development with particular reference to the implementation of the European Landscape Convention are discussed. The major sources are briefly described and their characteristics outlined. The impacts that differing national and reg…
Three-dimensional recording of archaeological remains in the Altai Mountains
In the course of their research campaign in Siberia, Ghent University archaeologists have developed a simple and cost effective method for the rapid 3D imaging of rock art, standing stelae and surface monuments. Their procedure will undoubtedly have a big role to play in archaeological research in advance of the oil pipeline expected soon
Historic Aerial Photographic Archives for European Archaeology
This article reviews the potential of archives of historic aerial photographs for European archaeology. Their roles in primary site discovery, in monitoring condition and material change, and in understanding landscape development with particular reference to the implementation of the European Landscape Convention are discussed. The major sources are briefly described and their characteristics outlined. The impacts that differing national and reg…
From Landscape of War to Archaeological Report: Ten Years of Professional World War I Archaeology in Flanders (Belgium)
With the commemoration of World War I (WWI) under way, a preliminary stocktaking can be made of archaeological research into the physical remains of this war. The question is to what extent the perspective on the study of WWI heritage, and consequently the way in which archaeological research into WWI remains has been conducted, has evolved over the last ten years. Are relics from WWI seen as a legitimate subject of inquiry or does its archaeolog…
The first thirty kilometres of the western front 1914–1918: An aerial archaeological approach with historical remote sensing data
During the first months of World War One, most armies realized the strength and possibilities of a new weapon: military aviation carrying out aerial reconnaissance. Pilots and observers became the eyes of the army. Aerial photographs were taken all over the different theatres of war, documenting a cultural landscape from which the relicts are often still visible as scars in the landscape. These aerial photographs are a massive and overlooked sour…
Three-dimensional recording of archaeological remains in the Altai Mountains
In the course of their research campaign in Siberia, Ghent University archaeologists have developed a simple and cost effective method for the rapid 3D imaging of rock art, standing stelae and surface monuments. Their procedure will undoubtedly have a big role to play in archaeological research in advance of the oil pipeline expected soon
From the air to beneath the soil – revealing and mapping great war trenches at Ploegsteert (Comines‐Warneton), Belgium
Recent military battlefield sites are often recorded by accident during geophysical investigations researching into earlier archaeological landscapes. The First World War (Great War) perhaps left its traces like no other war before or since in Europe. For the first time, a large area, some 16 ha in extent, has been surveyed over a modern conflict landscape. The authors have attempted to combine two remote sensing techniques: analysis of contempor…
Historical Aerial Photography and Multi‐receiver EMI Soil Sensing, Complementing Techniques for the Study of a Great War Conflict Landscape
In spite of an increase in World War I (WWI)‐related excavations in Flanders (Belgium), little is known about the nature and extent of the buried heritage of WWI from research on a landscape scale. This paper examines the combination of historical aerial photographic evidence and geophysical soil sensing. A case study in Comines‐Warneton compares data derived from contemporary WWI aerial photographs with multi‐receiver electromagnetic induction s…
The Ypres Salient 1914-1918: Historical Aerial Photography and the Landscape of War
An Interdisciplinary Non‐invasive Approach to Landscape Archaeology of the Great War
The prospection and evaluation of former battlefields of the Great War or the First World War (WW I) poses specific challenges. For several reasons, large‐scale excavation campaigns of this conflict landscape are problematic. The vastness of the former Western Front (one of the largest archaeological sites in the world), the large amounts of buried unexploded ordnance and the possible presence of human remains hinder invasive practices. As an alt…
The application of First World War aerial photography to archaeology: The Belgian images
The First World War left its mark on the ground surface of Europe as perhaps no other human catastrophe before or since. The author applies modern digital mapping technology to the aerial photographs taken by the intrepid early pilots, and creates a landscape of military works that would not have been known in detail to either historians or generals at the time. The GIS inventory has great potential for historians of the war and is a vital instru…
An Archaeological Landscape in the Dzhazator Valley (Altai Mountains): Surface Monuments and Petroglyphs from the Chalcolithic to the Ethnographic Period
Analysis of the organization of archaeological sites in the Dzhazator valley reveals patterns from the Chalcolithic to the Ethnographic period. There is a relationship between the monuments and petroglyphs in the Bronze Age, with a preference for the northern bank in the lower valley. In the early Iron Age and Turkic periods, all parts of the valley were used. The analysis reveals a distinction between the northern and the southern bank, where th…
The Application of Great War Aerial Photography in Battlefield Archaeology: The Example of Flanders
During the Great War, millions of aerial photographs of the frontline and area behind the trenches were made by the combatants. Such aerial photographs (APs) are a major source for the study of Great War heritage. Studying the APs required a new methodology, involving the processing of APs in GIS models to produce a detailed inventory of war traces. This approach provides reliable digital and analogue maps on which all visible traces are minutely…
LiDAR and conflict archaeology: The Battle of the Bulge (1944-1945)
Although conflict archaeology is now well established, the archaeological remains of many specific military confrontations are still to be explored. This article reports the results of fieldwork to document the site of the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944-25 January 1945). The authors use drone-mounted 1m-resolution LiDAR and very high-resolution simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) methods to reveal more than 940 features within the…
Evaluation of fluxgate magnetometry and electromagnetic induction surveys for subsurface characterization of archaeological features in World War 1 battlefields
Geophysical prospection as a noninvasive archaeological survey technique has become a widely applied discipline that is currently finding its way into the former World War 1 (WW1) battlefields. Because of the imminent danger of unexploded ordnances, noninvasiveness is the key to exploring the subsurface containing our buried heritage. Fluxgate magnetometry (FGM), a frequently applied prospection technique in archaeology and unexploded ordnance de…
Integrating Archaeology and Landscape Analysis for the Cultural Heritage Management of a World War I Militarised Landscape: The German Field Defences in Antwerp
The approaching centenary of the start of World War I and the booming cultural tourism at the former Western Front in Belgium, combined with recent urbanisation and agricultural intensification processes, have promoted the demand for a more effective and sustainable heritage management. In addition, there is need for interdisciplinary research on how war and socio-natural landscapes reciprocally reproduce each other in time and space. The focus o…
The archaeology of world war I tanks in the Ypres Salient (Belgium): A non‐invasive approach
In the past decade, the research of archaeological remains from World War I has become mainstream. This article uses non‐destructive techniques to investigate the possible material remains of tank warfare in Belgium. During World War I, tanks were used for the first time as a ‘land battleship’ in order to break through the stalemate in the trenches. During the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of Ypres (1917), tanks were used in Belgium to …
The Characterization of a Former World War I Battlefield by Integrating Multiple Signals from a Multireceiver EMI Soil Sensor
World War I (WWI) battlefields contain a large diversity of buried features that are situated just below the plough layer. A noninvasive interdisciplinary approach is preferred to characterize the buried heritage embedded within its soil landscape. In this study, the potential of integrating both electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements from a multireceiver electromagnetic induction (EMI) instrument at a heavily shelled WW…
Digging deeper is always rewarding. Policy instruments, challenges and recent research on conflict archaeology, WWI and WWII in Flanders
In 2017, the government of Flanders decided to award yearly grants for synthesising research on archaeological data produced via development-led archaeology in Flanders (Belgium). At present, no less than 34 archaeological projects have been financially supported this way. Three of those projects deal with the archaeology of modern conflicts. The project 'Conflict archaeology of the Second World War in Flanders' will be discussed in more detail. …
Winter camp’ 1917: Integrated conflict archaeology on the Messines Ridge 1914-1918 (Belgium)
Integrated research using aerial photography, proximal soil sensing, historical research and excavations of an unusual First World War site in Flanders (Belgium) is presented. Aerial photography revealed a grid of 5x6 huts unusually close to the front line. Geophysical research indicates good preservation of these structures. A targeted excavation was carried out. The results give insight into the structure of a military camp built in autumn 1917…
Using the past to indicate the possible presence of relics in the present-day landscape: The Western Front of the Great War in Belgium
The First World War (WWI) had a notable influence on the landscape at the former Western Front in Belgium. Research on a landscape scale is necessary to understand the destructive and constructive impact of the war and its consequences for the post-war landscape in a holistic manner. This paper focuses on the trajectory and impact analysis of three study areas with contrasting landscape types and aims to indicate possible preserved military relic…
Revealing the preservation of First World War shell hole landscapes based on a landscape change study and LiDAR
The surface scars of the First World War (WWI; 1914–1918) are rapidly disappearing due to modern and fast changing landscapes. Therefore, there is a need to monitor landscape relicts that mark our past. This study examines depressions caused by shelling. These shell holes are still present today and are one of the last remains of the military impact during the 4 years long stalemate on the Western Front. Shell hole landscapes are until now overlo…
Non-invasive research of tunneling heritage in the Ypres Salient (1914–1918) – research of the Tor Top tunnel system
Towards an Integrated Methodology for Assessing Rural Settlement Landscapes in the Belgian Lowlands
Although the Belgian lowlands witnessed a dense rural occupation in Roman and especially in medieval times, the exact nature of the settlement patterns, the farms and the interaction with the landscape is still poorly understood archaeologically, both scientifically and from a heritage curatorship point of view. Archaeogeophysical research has remained relatively limited in this area. However, other prospection techniques such as aerial photograp…
The Application of Great War Aerial Photography in Battlefield Archaeology: The Example of Flanders
During the Great War, millions of aerial photographs of the frontline and area behind the trenches were made by the combatants. Such aerial photographs (APs) are a major source for the study of Great War heritage. Studying the APs required a new methodology, involving the processing of APs in GIS models to produce a detailed inventory of war traces. This approach provides reliable digital and analogue maps on which all visible traces are minutely…
The application of First World War aerial photography to archaeology: The Belgian images
The First World War left its mark on the ground surface of Europe as perhaps no other human catastrophe before or since. The author applies modern digital mapping technology to the aerial photographs taken by the intrepid early pilots, and creates a landscape of military works that would not have been known in detail to either historians or generals at the time. The GIS inventory has great potential for historians of the war and is a vital instru…
From the air to beneath the soil – revealing and mapping great war trenches at Ploegsteert (Comines‐Warneton), Belgium
Recent military battlefield sites are often recorded by accident during geophysical investigations researching into earlier archaeological landscapes. The First World War (Great War) perhaps left its traces like no other war before or since in Europe. For the first time, a large area, some 16 ha in extent, has been surveyed over a modern conflict landscape. The authors have attempted to combine two remote sensing techniques: analysis of contempor…
The first thirty kilometres of the western front 1914–1918: An aerial archaeological approach with historical remote sensing data
During the first months of World War One, most armies realized the strength and possibilities of a new weapon: military aviation carrying out aerial reconnaissance. Pilots and observers became the eyes of the army. Aerial photographs were taken all over the different theatres of war, documenting a cultural landscape from which the relicts are often still visible as scars in the landscape. These aerial photographs are a massive and overlooked sour…
Development-led archaeology in Flanders: An Overview of Practices and Results in the Period 1990–2010
Towards an Integrated Methodology for Assessing Rural Settlement Landscapes in the Belgian Lowlands
Although the Belgian lowlands witnessed a dense rural occupation in Roman and especially in medieval times, the exact nature of the settlement patterns, the farms and the interaction with the landscape is still poorly understood archaeologically, both scientifically and from a heritage curatorship point of view. Archaeogeophysical research has remained relatively limited in this area. However, other prospection techniques such as aerial photograp…
Historic Aerial Photographic Archives for European Archaeology
This article reviews the potential of archives of historic aerial photographs for European archaeology. Their roles in primary site discovery, in monitoring condition and material change, and in understanding landscape development with particular reference to the implementation of the European Landscape Convention are discussed. The major sources are briefly described and their characteristics outlined. The impacts that differing national and reg…
Three-dimensional recording of archaeological remains in the Altai Mountains
In the course of their research campaign in Siberia, Ghent University archaeologists have developed a simple and cost effective method for the rapid 3D imaging of rock art, standing stelae and surface monuments. Their procedure will undoubtedly have a big role to play in archaeological research in advance of the oil pipeline expected soon
An Interdisciplinary Non‐invasive Approach to Landscape Archaeology of the Great War
The prospection and evaluation of former battlefields of the Great War or the First World War (WW I) poses specific challenges. For several reasons, large‐scale excavation campaigns of this conflict landscape are problematic. The vastness of the former Western Front (one of the largest archaeological sites in the world), the large amounts of buried unexploded ordnance and the possible presence of human remains hinder invasive practices. As an alt…
Integrating Archaeology and Landscape Analysis for the Cultural Heritage Management of a World War I Militarised Landscape: The German Field Defences in Antwerp
The approaching centenary of the start of World War I and the booming cultural tourism at the former Western Front in Belgium, combined with recent urbanisation and agricultural intensification processes, have promoted the demand for a more effective and sustainable heritage management. In addition, there is need for interdisciplinary research on how war and socio-natural landscapes reciprocally reproduce each other in time and space. The focus o…
From Landscape of War to Archaeological Report: Ten Years of Professional World War I Archaeology in Flanders (Belgium)
With the commemoration of World War I (WWI) under way, a preliminary stocktaking can be made of archaeological research into the physical remains of this war. The question is to what extent the perspective on the study of WWI heritage, and consequently the way in which archaeological research into WWI remains has been conducted, has evolved over the last ten years. Are relics from WWI seen as a legitimate subject of inquiry or does its archaeolog…
An Archaeological Landscape in the Dzhazator Valley (Altai Mountains): Surface Monuments and Petroglyphs from the Chalcolithic to the Ethnographic Period
Analysis of the organization of archaeological sites in the Dzhazator valley reveals patterns from the Chalcolithic to the Ethnographic period. There is a relationship between the monuments and petroglyphs in the Bronze Age, with a preference for the northern bank in the lower valley. In the early Iron Age and Turkic periods, all parts of the valley were used. The analysis reveals a distinction between the northern and the southern bank, where th…
Conflict Landscapes and Archaeology from Above
Historical Aerial Photography and Multi‐receiver EMI Soil Sensing, Complementing Techniques for the Study of a Great War Conflict Landscape
In spite of an increase in World War I (WWI)‐related excavations in Flanders (Belgium), little is known about the nature and extent of the buried heritage of WWI from research on a landscape scale. This paper examines the combination of historical aerial photographic evidence and geophysical soil sensing. A case study in Comines‐Warneton compares data derived from contemporary WWI aerial photographs with multi‐receiver electromagnetic induction s…
The Characterization of a Former World War I Battlefield by Integrating Multiple Signals from a Multireceiver EMI Soil Sensor
World War I (WWI) battlefields contain a large diversity of buried features that are situated just below the plough layer. A noninvasive interdisciplinary approach is preferred to characterize the buried heritage embedded within its soil landscape. In this study, the potential of integrating both electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements from a multireceiver electromagnetic induction (EMI) instrument at a heavily shelled WW…
Non-invasive research of tunneling heritage in the Ypres Salient (1914–1918) – research of the Tor Top tunnel system
Removal of sensor tilt noise in fluxgate gradiometer survey data by applying one‐dimensional wavelet filtering
Archaeological prospection with magnetometer instruments is performed in a wide range of field configurations, ranging from single probe setups to mobile arrays that allow combining multiple sensors. The latter type, whereby instruments are mounted onto a cart system, are particularly prone to motion‐induced noise. Sensor tilt, for example, causes in‐line noise that can obscure magnetic variations present. To remediate these effects, image proces…
The Ypres Salient 1914-1918: Historical Aerial Photography and the Landscape of War
The archaeology of world war I tanks in the Ypres Salient (Belgium): A non‐invasive approach
In the past decade, the research of archaeological remains from World War I has become mainstream. This article uses non‐destructive techniques to investigate the possible material remains of tank warfare in Belgium. During World War I, tanks were used for the first time as a ‘land battleship’ in order to break through the stalemate in the trenches. During the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of Ypres (1917), tanks were used in Belgium to …
Evaluation of fluxgate magnetometry and electromagnetic induction surveys for subsurface characterization of archaeological features in World War 1 battlefields
Geophysical prospection as a noninvasive archaeological survey technique has become a widely applied discipline that is currently finding its way into the former World War 1 (WW1) battlefields. Because of the imminent danger of unexploded ordnances, noninvasiveness is the key to exploring the subsurface containing our buried heritage. Fluxgate magnetometry (FGM), a frequently applied prospection technique in archaeology and unexploded ordnance de…
Using the past to indicate the possible presence of relics in the present-day landscape: The Western Front of the Great War in Belgium
The First World War (WWI) had a notable influence on the landscape at the former Western Front in Belgium. Research on a landscape scale is necessary to understand the destructive and constructive impact of the war and its consequences for the post-war landscape in a holistic manner. This paper focuses on the trajectory and impact analysis of three study areas with contrasting landscape types and aims to indicate possible preserved military relic…
Revealing the preservation of First World War shell hole landscapes based on a landscape change study and LiDAR
The surface scars of the First World War (WWI; 1914–1918) are rapidly disappearing due to modern and fast changing landscapes. Therefore, there is a need to monitor landscape relicts that mark our past. This study examines depressions caused by shelling. These shell holes are still present today and are one of the last remains of the military impact during the 4 years long stalemate on the Western Front. Shell hole landscapes are until now overlo…
Towards an inclusive curation of WWI heritage: Integrating historical aerial photographs, digital museum applications and landscape markers in “Flanders Fields” (Belgium)
Purpose Over a century of state-sponsored construction of monuments, historic mythmaking and nationalist framings of WWI has ensured that it has become notoriously difficult to present the heritage of the Great War in an inclusive and non-selective way. In this paper the authors present a strategy and technology-driven solutions to overcome the selective heritage curation of modern conflict. Design/methodology/approach Building on a suite of tool…
Understanding the landscape dynamics from a devastated to revived cultural landscape: The case of the First World War in Flanders through the lens of landscape patterns
Winter camp’ 1917: Integrated conflict archaeology on the Messines Ridge 1914-1918 (Belgium)
Integrated research using aerial photography, proximal soil sensing, historical research and excavations of an unusual First World War site in Flanders (Belgium) is presented. Aerial photography revealed a grid of 5x6 huts unusually close to the front line. Geophysical research indicates good preservation of these structures. A targeted excavation was carried out. The results give insight into the structure of a military camp built in autumn 1917…
Archaeology (26 works) · Archaeological Research and Protection (25 works) · History (23 works) · Geography (20 works) · 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage (18 works) · History (16 works) · Remote sensing (12 works) · Ancient history (10 works) · Engineering (10 works) · Geology (9 works)