• Title/Summary/Keyword: archaeological structures

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Archaeological Investigations in Urban Areas through Combined Application of Surface ERT and GPR Techniques

  • Papadopoulos, Nikos;Yi, Myeong-Jong;Sarris, Apostolos;Kim, Jung-Ho
    • 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2008.10a
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    • pp.113-118
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    • 2008
  • Among the geophysical methods, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) comprise the most promising techniques in resolving buried archaeological structures in urban territories. In this work, two case studies which involve an integrated geophysical survey employing the surface three dimensional (3D) ERT and GPR techniques, in order to archaeologically characterize the investigated areas, are presented. Totally more than 4000 square meters were investigated from the test field sites, which are located at the centre of two of the most populated cities of the island of Crete, in Greece. The ERT and the GPR data were collected along dense and parallel profiles. The subsurface resistivity structure was reconstructed by processing the apparent resistivity data with a 3D inversion algorithm. The GPR sections were processed with a systematic way applying specific filters to the data in order to enhance their information context. Finally, horizontal depth slices representing the 3D variation of the physical properties were created and the geophysical anomalies were interpreted in terms of possible archaeological structures. The subsequent excavations in one of the sites verified the geophysical results, enhancing the applicability of ERT and GPR techniques in the archaeological exploration of urban territories.

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Application of portable digital radiography for dental investigations of ancient Egyptian mummies during archaeological excavations: Evaluation and discussion of the advantages and limitations of different approaches and projections

  • Seiler, Roger;Eppenberger, Patrick;Ruhli, Frank
    • Imaging Science in Dentistry
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    • v.48 no.3
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    • pp.167-176
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    • 2018
  • Purpose: In the age of X-ray computed tomography (CT) and digital volume tomography (DVT), with their outstanding post-processing capabilities, indications for planar radiography for the study of the dentition of ancient Egyptian mummies may easily be overlooked. In this article, the advantages and limitations of different approaches and projections are discussed for planar oral and maxillofacial radiography using portable digital X-ray equipment during archaeological excavations. Furthermore, recommendations are provided regarding projections and sample positioning in this context. Materials and Methods: A total of 55 specimens, including 19 skeletonized mandibles, 14 skeletonized skulls, 18 separate mummified heads, and 4 partially preserved mummies were imaged using portable digital X-ray equipment in the course of archaeological excavations led by the University of Basel in the Valley of the Kings between 2009 and 2012. Images were evaluated by 2 authors with regard to the visibility of diagnostically relevant dental structures using a 4-point grading system(Likert scale). Results: Overall, the visibility of diagnostically relevant dental structures was rated highest by both authors on X-ray images acquired using a dental detector. The tube-shift technique in the lateral projections of mandibular dentition achieved the second-best rating, and lateral projections achieved the third-best rating. Conclusion: Conventional planar digital X-ray imaging, due to its ubiquity, remains an excellent method-and often the only practicable one-for examining the skulls and teeth of ancient Egyptian mummies under field conditions. Radiographic images of excellent diagnostic quality can be obtained, if an appropriate methodology regarding the selected projections and sample placement is followed.

Survey and Archaeological Research on the Shàngdu(上都) Site in Yuán(元) Ruins (원상도(元上都)의 조사와 건축유적의 고고학 연구)

  • Wei, Jian
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.45 no.3
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    • pp.28-59
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    • 2012
  • The $Sh{\grave{a}}ngdu$ site in the Yuan Dynasty of China, a capital city located in the northern steppe area characterised by the nomadic life, has received great attentions from a number of travellers, historians and archaeologists. Several famous European travellers described vividly the city structure and civil life of $Sh{\grave{a}}ngdu$ from the Yuan Dynasty onwards. Since the begging of the modern era, a number of foreign expeditionists and historians explored $Sh{\grave{a}}ngdu$ and published research reports. From the 20th century, mainly Chinese and Japanese historians and archaeologists carried out the relatively detailed historical researches and archaeological surveys to the $Sh{\grave{a}}ngdu$ site; and published books, articles and excavation reports. More detailed and scientific archaeological investigations, mappings and excavations have been conducted since 1990s. This paper aims to progress basic discussion to the city structures of the $Sh{\grave{a}}ngdu$ site based on the previously conducted researches by expeditionists, geographers and archaeologists and the full scale investigations, which have been carried out since the late 20th century.

Urban archaeological investigations using surface 3D Ground Penetrating Radar and Electrical Resistivity Tomography methods (3차원 지표레이다와 전기비저항 탐사를 이용한 도심지 유적 조사)

  • Papadopoulos, Nikos;Sarris, Apostolos;Yi, Myeong-Jong;Kim, Jung-Ho
    • Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.56-68
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    • 2009
  • Ongoing and extensive urbanisation, which is frequently accompanied with careless construction works, may threaten important archaeological structures that are still buried in the urban areas. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) methods are most promising alternatives for resolving buried archaeological structures in urban territories. In this work, three case studies are presented, each of which involves an integrated geophysical survey employing the surface three-dimensional (3D) ERT and GPR techniques, in order to archaeologically characterise the investigated areas. The test field sites are located at the historical centres of two of the most populated cities of the island of Crete, in Greece. The ERT and GPR data were collected along a dense network of parallel profiles. The subsurface resistivity structure was reconstructed by processing the apparent resistivity data with a 3D inversion algorithm. The GPR sections were processed with a systematic way, applying specific filters to the data in order to enhance their information content. Finally, horizontal depth slices representing the 3D variation of the physical properties were created. The GPR and ERT images significantly contributed in reconstructing the complex subsurface properties in these urban areas. Strong GPR reflections and highresistivity anomalies were correlated with possible archaeological structures. Subsequent excavations in specific places at both sites verified the geophysical results. The specific case studies demonstrated the applicability of ERT and GPR techniques during the design and construction stages of urban infrastructure works, indicating areas of archaeological significance and guiding archaeological excavations before construction work.

The decentralized Austronesian polity: Of Mandalas, Negaras, Galactics, and the South Sulawesi Kingdoms

  • Druce, Stephen C.
    • SUVANNABHUMI
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.7-34
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    • 2017
  • Various models have been presented to describe early Southeast Asian political formations that draw on both indigenous and imported Indic ideas. The most influential of these are the "Mandala" (Wolters 1968, 1982, 1999), "Galactic" (Tambiah 1976), "Negara" (Geertz 1980), and Anderson's 1972 "The idea of power in Javanese culture." This paper represents an initial attempt to compare the salient features of these models with historical and archaeological data from South Sulawesi where, exceptionally and importantly, societies developed independently of Indic ideas. South Sulawesi is unique in being the only region of maritime Southeast Asia where there are sufficient written and oral sources, often substantiated by archaeological data, to document the social evolution of its society from scattered, economically self-sufficient communities with ranked lineages practicing swidden agriculture to large political units (kingdoms) constructed around indigenous cultural and political concepts with economies based on wet-rice agriculture. This wealth of data provides us with a much more detailed picture of the emergence, development and support structures of early kingdoms than found in the models, which makes South Sulawesi of fundamental importance in understanding the social and economic evolution of pre-Indic influenced Austronesian societies in Maritime Southeast Asia.

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Evaluation of Van Khan Tooril's castle, an archaeological site in Mongolia, by Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR을 이용한 몽고 유적지 반 칸 투리일의 성 (Van Khan Tooril's castle)의 평가)

  • Khuut, Tseedulam;Sato, Motoyuki
    • Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.69-76
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    • 2009
  • We report an implementation of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey at a site that corresponds to a ruined castle. The objective of the survey was to characterise buried archaeological structures such as walls and tiles in Van Khan Tooril's Ruin, Mongolia, by 2D and 3D GPR techniques. GPR datasets were acquired in an area 10mby 9 m, with 10 cm line spacing. Two datasets were collected, using GPR with 500MHz and 800MHz frequency antennas. In this paper, we report the use of instantaneous parameters to detect archaeological targets such as tile, brick, and masonry by polarimetric GPR. Radar polarimetry is an advanced technology for extraction of target scattering characteristics. It gives us much more information about the size, shape, orientation, and surface condition of radar targets. We focused our interpretation on the strongest reflections. The image is enhanced by the use of instantaneous parameters. Judging by the shape and the width of the reflections, it is clear that moderate to high intensity response in instantaneous amplitude corresponds to brick and tiles. The instantaneous phase map gave information about the location of the targets, which appeared as discontinuities in the signal. In order to increase our ability to interpret these archaeological targets, we compared the GPR datasets acquired in two orthogonal survey directions. A good correlation is observed for the alignments of reflections when we compare the two datasets. However, more reflections appear in the north-south survey direction than in the west-east direction. This is due to the electric field orientation, which is in the horizontal plane for north-south survey directions and the horizontally polarised component of the backscattered high energy is recorded.

An Extended Dynamic Schema for Storing Semi-structured Data

  • Nakata, Mitsuru;Ge, Qi-Wei;Hochin, Teruhisa;Tsuji, Tatsuo
    • Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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    • 2002.07a
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    • pp.301-304
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    • 2002
  • Recently, database technologies have been used commonly. But, ordinary technologies aren't suitable to construct a complicated database such as a classical literature database or an archaeological relic's database. Because this kinds of data are semi-structured data that doesn't have regular structures, database schema can't be defined before databases. We have proposed DREAM model for semi-structured databases. In this model, a database consists of five elements and the model has operations similar to operation of set theory. And further we have introduced dynamic schema "shape" showing structure of each element. We have already realized a prototype of DBMS adopting DREAM model (DREAM DBMS) and constructing function of shapes. However, shape is imperfect to describe database structures because it can't explain nested structures of elements. In this paper, we will profuse a "shape graph"that is dynamic schema showing database structures more exactly and extend the DREAM DBMS. Further we will evaluate the performance of constructing function of shapes and shape graphs.

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Studies on the Restoration of Ancient Bridge Setakarahashi -Conservation and Display for Large Size Waterlogged Wood- (고대 세다당교의 보존처리 - 대형출토목재의 보존과 전시 -)

  • NAKAGAWA, Masato
    • Journal of Conservation Science
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    • v.5 no.2 s.6
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    • pp.51-56
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    • 1996
  • This paper deals with the restoration of ancient wooden bridge foundation which excavated in Seta river Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Shiga Archeological Research started a marine archeological investigation of the bridge foundation in 1987. The bridge foundation stricture excavated and have since then recovered about a lots of woods and another materials. The bridge foundation structure constructed log, timbers and stones. The species of those waterlogged wood were identified as two types, hardwood and softwood. Hardwood(log : Cyclobalanopsis) was used for below foundation and softwood (timber' Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl. Cupreessaceae) was used for base structure. One of those timber sample dated by dendrochronology, we asked Dr. Misutani*. The softwood gave a felling date of 567 A.D. In result, the ancient Seta bridge foundation structure had constructed between Asuka and Nara period. We healed the news that ancient bridge foundation excavated at Woljyongyo site in Kyongju, Korea 1987. The bridge foundation Setakarahashi is similar in plane and structure to Woljyongyo structures. The Woljyongyo site report had be of value for reference. We had planning to restore those woods. Hardwood log was got serious damage. The water content varies from 400 to $600\%$. The other timbers water content varies about $200\%$. In the Shiga Center for Archaeological Operations and the Azuchi Castle Archaeological Museum, we set up the PEG impregnation tank. Those wooden objects treated by PEG method. PEG with a molecular weight of 4000. The treatment results may be considered satisfactory. The ancient wooden Seta bridge was reconstructed in Biwako Museum which established in Oct. 1996. We must take care of indoor exhibition environments. (*Nara National Cultual Properties Research Institute).

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Archival Discourse in Contemporary Art and the Rethinking of "Archival Art" (현대미술에서의 아카이브 담론과 '아카이브 아트'의 재고찰)

  • Hyerin Lee
    • Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.31-46
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    • 2024
  • This study provides a synthesis of the fundamental concepts of "art archives" and "archival art" while undertaking a reconsideration of the latter. Archival art refers to "artworks or art practices that utilize archival structures or methodologies." Accepted as a new trend in contemporary art, archival art is evaluated as a counternarrative and reconstructs histories that are marginalized and omitted from the public sphere. This approach reveals the contradictory nature of criticizing the contemporary archive from an anti-archival perspective while simultaneously presenting the archive as a core identity of the work. Given the limited research on archival art, often with potential contradictions regarding record authenticity, this study expands the concept of archival art, includes archaeological aspects, classifies types, and analyzes their characteristics. By approaching artists' use of archives from a traditional archaeological lens, this study broadens the scope of the examination.

Rationalist Approach Towards New Forms : White Prisms (새로운 형태, 백색 프리즘에 대한 이성적 접근에 관한 연구)

  • Chung, Jin Soo
    • Journal of architectural history
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.161-172
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    • 1994
  • This is part of a study on the origin of modernist forms and settings. Forms in Modern Architecture are totally new as though they seemed to be originated from some remote culture. Archaeological studies and Laugier's primitivist attitude to the classical architecture provided a way leading, in the end, to pure structures and abstract forms. An application of the classical elements was combined with the ultimate image of nobility, simplicity and rationality. What the seventeenth and eighteenth century theorists realized in the ruines of the classical structures were not the ones with their original organic vitality but the deteriorated, naked and abstracted ones. The essence of the classical structures has been the one of the main references of the modern white architecture. Ration and Nature were the quintessential terms in the design process of the Enlightenment architects of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as they were in the twentieth century architecture. Pure geometric and symbolic forms were new inventions for the new revolutionary age after the development of architectural Styles, successive until Baroque and Roccoco, ceased to go on to the next phase. Many of their buildings appeared so modem in character, for they were omitted all but the essential structure and decoration. Other sides of rationality in the pre-modern age were evolved in terms of the paradigmatic research and the logic in structure. Durand developed a systematic typological approach to the forms. Geometry was the basis of his designs and his illustrations resembled endless simple geometrical problems. One of the other rational approaches was mainly developed by Viollet-le-Duc. To him, Gothic architecture was the model in which each members functioned actively and exerted counterpressure and the Middle Ages invented new fantastic forms. The several ways of rational approaches in architecture were led to the 'tabula rasa' planning in modern architecture. Nature was remained untouched and not deformed as Ledoux's houses in the $H{\hat{o}}tel$ de $Th{\acute{e}}lusson$ were setted on informal gardens. It is part of the modem image that Nature flows or interpenetrates through the white prisms of the strictest classical purity and machines.

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