DART is a three year Science and Heritage funded initiative led by the School of Computing at the University of Leeds. The Science and Heritage programme is funded jointly by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). To examine the complex problem of heritage detection DART has attracted a consortium consisting of 25 key heritage and industry organisations and academic consultants and researchers from the areas of computer vision, geophysics, remote sensing, knowledge engineering and soil science.
Enhanced knowledge of archaeological residues is important for the long-term curation and understanding of a diminishing heritage. There are certain geologies and soils which can complicate the collection and interpretation of heritage remote sensing data. In some of these "difficult' areas traditional detection techniques have been unresponsive. DART will develop a deeper understanding of the contrast factors and detection dynamics within "difficult' areas. This will allow the identification of appropriate sensors and conditions for feature detection. The successful detection of features in "difficult' areas will provide a more complete understanding of the heritage resource which will impact on research, management and development control.
The DART team are undertaking intensive analysis on our study sites based in Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire. Four batteries of in-situ probes have been installed within and adjacent to archaeological features to record soil-moisture and temperate readings (approximately every hour). Macro and micro soil samples have been taken for laboratory analysis. A weather station is associated with each installation. Geophysical and spectro-radiometric measurements are taken on at least a monthly basis. This data will be analysed to improve the understanding of how changes in ambient conditions and crop growth lead to changes in signal that can produce a measureable contrast indicative of the presence of archaeology.
We believe DART and the School of Computing can bring a number of useful additions to ArchaeoLandscapes.Â Beyond the obvious points of extending the network of collaborators and including a project researching into some fundamental issues of detection, DART will bring the following to ArchaeoLandscapes:
- Access to data and methods: (DART is an Open Science project) which will be essential for best practice, teaching and broader dissemination.
- Teaching and learning materials: DART is developing teaching and learning materials. Partnership with ArchaeoLandscapes will improve both scope and provision.