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Gradiometer Survey (gradiometer + survey)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Earth and Environmental Science	100%

Selected Abstracts

Discovery of the causeway and the mortuary temple of the Pyramid of Amenemhat II using near-surface magnetic investigation, Dahshour, Giza, Egypt

GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 2 2010
T. Abdallatif
ABSTRACT The main outbuildings of the Amenemhat II pyramid complex in Dahsour were yet to be discovered due to a very long subjection of the area to the military authorities and also the demolition of the pyramid itself. We describe the discovery of some of these outbuildings using near-surface magnetic investigations. A gradiometer survey was conducted in the area east of the pyramid to measure the vertical magnetic gradient with a high resolution instrument at 0.5 m sampling interval. The data showed some undesirable field effects such as grid discontinuities, grid slope, traverse stripe effects, spikes and high frequencies originating from recent ferrous contamination. These undesirable effects were addressed to produce an enhanced display. We have successfully detected four main structures in the area east of the pyramid; the causeway that connected the mortuary temple with the valley temple during the Middle Kingdom of the 12th Dynasty, the mortuary temple and its associated rooms, ruins of an ancient working area and an Egyptian-style tomb structure called a Mastaba. An improved recognition for these structures was accomplished by using the analytic signal and Euler deconvolution techniques. Excavation of a small part within the study area has proven the reliability of magnetic discoveries and the shallowness and composition of the detected features. [source]

The structure of Upper Mesopotamian cities: Insight from fluxgate gradiometer survey at Kazane Höyük, southeastern Turkey

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 2 2010
Andy Creekmore
Abstract This paper presents the results of fluxgate gradiometer survey of the Bronze Age city at the site of Kazane Höyük, southeastern Turkey. We undertook this work to test the applicability of magnetometry to the study of the organization of urban space at this site within the context of urbanization in Upper Mesopotamia. Gradiometry collection covered a total of 37 520,m2 in five parts of the site. Results from each area were mixed but the most revealing data, from Area 1, show a roughly 2,ha area in the outer town that contains monumental, elite and administrative architecture as well as a main street. Low negative values indicate that most identified architecture is built with limestone foundations, and high positive values reveal that some of the buildings burned before their collapse. These interpretations are supported by excavations that reveal much about the use of the identified spaces and features. Although the structure of Area 1 is rectilinear, evidence for strict rules of city planning is lacking. Instead, the third millennium city at Kazane has a structure seen at other Upper Mesopotamian cities: dense, semi-orthogonal architecture built along well-maintained avenues. Combined with previous research, it is clear that Kazane contained multiple elite or administrative areas, which may indicate a degree of power-sharing or heterarchy in the development and management of this city. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Ground-penetrating radar survey over bronze age circular monuments on a sandy soil, complemented with electromagnetic induction and fluxgate gradiometer data

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 3 2009
L. Verdonck
Abstract This paper presents a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey over two circular structures originally surrounding Bronze Age burial mounds at the site of Koekelare (western Belgium). The region is characterized by sandy soils. Their low water storage capacity and the consequent moisture contrasts in dry summers played an important role in the detection of over 1000 Bronze Age funeral monuments through aerial archaeology in the past few decades. At Koekelare, low attenuation of GPR waves resulted in the detection of a double and single circular ditch. A fluxgate gradiometer survey and electromagnetic induction (EMI) measurements did not clearly reveal the ditches. For the GPR wave velocity analysis, constant velocity migration tests were combined with time-domain reflectometry (TDR). The TDR measurements were made at different depths within the ditches and in the adjacent undisturbed soil, so that the differences in the physical soil parameters could be assessed. At a depth of approximately 0.45 to 0.8,m, the relatively homogeneous ditch fill produces few GPR reflections compared with the undisturbed soil, and is visible as a weak negative anomaly on the horizontal slices. At this depth, the grey or brownish black ditch fill was found in augering samples, clearly distinguishable from the yellowish brown sandy soil outside the ditches. The transition between the ditch and the underlying soil caused a gradual reflection of radar energy at a depth of approximately 0.8 to 1.2,m, although TDR showed no marked differences in relative permittivity between the ditches and the surrounding soil, and no clear steps as a function of depth. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]