EGU21-7372
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-7372
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

A multi-scale ground and drone-borne magnetic survey approach for the detection and investigation of archaeological structures

Bruno Gavazzi1, Hugo Reiller1, Marc Munschy1, Gilles Pierrevelcin2, Florian Basoge2, Jeanne Mercier de Lépinay3, and Tristan Fréville3
Bruno Gavazzi et al.
  • 1Institut Terre et Environnement de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg/EOST CNRS UMR 7063, Strasbourg, France (bgavazzi@unistra.fr)
  • 2Archéologie Alsace, Sélestat, France
  • 3Terremys, Illkirch-Graffenstaden (Strasbourg), France

Ground magnetic surveys are commonly used for imaging near-surface structures in archaeological studies. Usually, surveys are conducted using vertical component gradiometers or scalar gradiometers to produce a vertical pseudo-gradient map. Scalar magnetometers can also be used, albeit less frequently, to produce maps of the total magnetic anomaly. In all these cases, the equipment is pushed or pulled by an operator or carried behind a vehicle. Here we present a third approach made available by the use of three-component fluxgate magnetometers: fast surveys over large areas using a compact lightweight drone flying automatically 1 to 2 m above the ground and high precision surveys acquired by an operator 0,2 to 1 m above the ground. A case study on the gallo-roman site of Oedenburg, located along the Rhine River in its upper valley, illustrates the results that can be obtained with the approach. A comparison with previously acquired pseudo-gradient surveys shows that the presented method allows a faster coverage, a greater resolution for the imaging of short wavelength structures (such as walls) and a better capacity of imaging large wavelength structures (such as pathways, palaeochannels or soil composition variations). As the site is crossed by a high voltage electric power line, a method to suppress the high-amplitude 50 Hz frequency magnetic field is presented.

How to cite: Gavazzi, B., Reiller, H., Munschy, M., Pierrevelcin, G., Basoge, F., Mercier de Lépinay, J., and Fréville, T.: A multi-scale ground and drone-borne magnetic survey approach for the detection and investigation of archaeological structures, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-7372, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-7372, 2021.

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