Surface survey: method and strategies

Simon Holdaway

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-09819-7_4

Surface survey: method and strategies

Simon Holdaway^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

Archaeological excavation takes time, and while it provides a great deal of information about the nature of past activities, it provides only indirect information on how these activities were distributed across space. Surface materials, on the other hand, are quicker to record not because the recording is any less detailed but because the material to be recorded is immediately visible. For a given set of resources, many more surface locations can be recorded and their contents analyzed. As a consequence, archaeologists working in many countries have conducted surface surveys over large areas. In doing so, they have taken advantage of advances in survey technologies like Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and total stations together with software like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and relational databases to greatly enhance their ability to record the spatial distribution of artifacts and sites.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Field archaeology from around the world
Subtitle of host publication	ideas and approaches
Editors	Martin Carver, Bisserka Gaydarska, Sandra Montón-Subías
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer, Springer Nature
Pages	27-32
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9783319098197
ISBN (Print)	9783319098180
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09819-7_4
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2015
Externally published	Yes

Publication series

Name	SpringerBriefs in Archaeology
Publisher	Springer
ISSN (Print)	1861-6623

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-319-09819-7_4

Cite this

@inbook{1ba5e9db5ad344859e8d13e02c581a39,

title = "Surface survey: method and strategies",

abstract = "Archaeological excavation takes time, and while it provides a great deal of information about the nature of past activities, it provides only indirect information on how these activities were distributed across space. Surface materials, on the other hand, are quicker to record not because the recording is any less detailed but because the material to be recorded is immediately visible. For a given set of resources, many more surface locations can be recorded and their contents analyzed. As a consequence, archaeologists working in many countries have conducted surface surveys over large areas. In doing so, they have taken advantage of advances in survey technologies like Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and total stations together with software like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and relational databases to greatly enhance their ability to record the spatial distribution of artifacts and sites.",

author = "Simon Holdaway",

year = "2015",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-319-09819-7\_4",

language = "English",

isbn = "9783319098180",

series = "SpringerBriefs in Archaeology",

publisher = "Springer, Springer Nature",

pages = "27--32",

editor = "Martin Carver and Bisserka Gaydarska and Sandra Mont{\'o}n-Sub{\'i}as",

booktitle = "Field archaeology from around the world",

address = "United States",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - Surface survey

T2 - method and strategies

AU - Holdaway, Simon

PY - 2015/1/1

Y1 - 2015/1/1

N2 - Archaeological excavation takes time, and while it provides a great deal of information about the nature of past activities, it provides only indirect information on how these activities were distributed across space. Surface materials, on the other hand, are quicker to record not because the recording is any less detailed but because the material to be recorded is immediately visible. For a given set of resources, many more surface locations can be recorded and their contents analyzed. As a consequence, archaeologists working in many countries have conducted surface surveys over large areas. In doing so, they have taken advantage of advances in survey technologies like Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and total stations together with software like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and relational databases to greatly enhance their ability to record the spatial distribution of artifacts and sites.

AB - Archaeological excavation takes time, and while it provides a great deal of information about the nature of past activities, it provides only indirect information on how these activities were distributed across space. Surface materials, on the other hand, are quicker to record not because the recording is any less detailed but because the material to be recorded is immediately visible. For a given set of resources, many more surface locations can be recorded and their contents analyzed. As a consequence, archaeologists working in many countries have conducted surface surveys over large areas. In doing so, they have taken advantage of advances in survey technologies like Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and total stations together with software like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and relational databases to greatly enhance their ability to record the spatial distribution of artifacts and sites.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85017347819

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-09819-7_4

DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-09819-7_4

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85017347819

SN - 9783319098180

T3 - SpringerBriefs in Archaeology

SP - 27

EP - 32

BT - Field archaeology from around the world

A2 - Carver, Martin

A2 - Gaydarska, Bisserka

A2 - Montón-Subías, Sandra

PB - Springer, Springer Nature

CY - Cham

ER -

Surface survey: method and strategies

Abstract

Publication series

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this