La geografia evade i suoi confini e invade il quotidiano

I Sistemi Informativi Geografici: la provincia di nessuna disciplina

Palermo, Mercoledì 18 ottobre

Topi, gatti, pipistrelli e tappeti

Geomatica per la ricerca, prevenzione e
ricognizione archeologica

Alessandro Russell (representative)

Aerial Archaeology Research Group
Sicily Sub-Committee
The International Aerial Archaeology Research Group
Il Gruppo Internazionale di Ricerca in Archeologia Aerea

Il Gruppo Internazionale di
Ricerca in Archeologia Aerea è
una piattaforma per lo scambio di
idee ed informazioni per tutti i
ricercatori impegnati nella
aerofoto-interpretazione, storia,
archeologia e architettura del
paesaggio, pianificazione
territoriale, monitoraggio e
mitigazione del rischio
ambientale.

Opera in Italia dal 2001 in virtù

della abrogazione del Regio
Decreto XVIII – 19 Luglio 1939 in
materia di ripresa e diffusione di
materiale aero-cinefotografico.
The Archaeological Palimpsest
Persian carpet

O.G.S. Crawford jokingly

thought of the traditional
field archaeologist as
Platonically busy in the
search for the
particulars, while his/her
aerial colleagues could
ponder upon universal
values.

The ones would be

looking through the
fibres of a Persian carpet,
while the others admire
the arabesques.
 Rat, Cat, Bat & Mat 1
Landscape: actors, survey, perspectives

Rat

Scavo, analisi
geochimica, Intrasito, sito, non-sito
geoprospezione
intensiva

Cat
Ricognzione intrasito, sito,
pedologica, Plant intersito, non-sito
mapping,
Geoprospezione
estensiva
Prospezione aerea nel
visibile, prospezione
aerea multispettrale,
scansione laser, imaging
Bat satellitare Paesaggi
archeologici
Rat, Cat, Bat & Mat 2
Landscape: actors, survey, perspectives
Part I – the past
Leonardo (1558)

Marks of
The Roman centuriazione

Plan of Imola
Leonardo D. V.
1502
Part I – the past
Experiments and stationarism (1858-1874)

Arago – 1839
Daguerrotype – new mapping

Nadar – 1858
“What (he) had really done
was to change the level of art
to the level of science and
utility, from the artistic
drawing to work tool”

King/Samuel – 1860
Boston – earliest picture

Glaisher – 1862
London from 20,000 feet

Lowe/Lincoln - 1863
Spy balloons in the American
Civil War
Part I – the past
Pignoni /Nadar and camera shake

Nadar – 1875
Camera shake and steam glyders

Lilienthal -1884
Glyder

Eddy, Batut, Archibald – 1880s

Kites

Jennings - 1909
‘The chief difficulties arise from the tendency to
over-exposure; vibration of the camera caused by
wind or movement; and atmospheric
disturbances not always perceived by the eye but
plainly apparent in the negative’
‘camera shake may be limited by the rigidity of
the camera and of its parts.’
Part I – the past
Earliest archaeological applications

Stolze - 1874
Persepolis survey

Boni - 1899
‘I have been on the Military
Engineers‟ balloon thrice, 400
mt above the Palatine Hill and
the Forum Romanum, I have
taken a dozen exposures and
sketched the plans of
monuments and views […] The
Coliseum, and Constantine’s
Basilica looked like wooden
models!’

McKenzie – 1900
Stonehenge 1
Boni- Vaglieri – 1900-1912
Ostia and Pompeii

Capper – 1907
Stonehenge 2
Part I – the past
1909-12: The Quantum Leap, the Wrights and Farman planes
Part I – the past
1911-1914: Wellcome’s kites & young Crawford

Wellcome - 1911
The trolley kite had thus
freed archaeologists of their
greatest constraint: the
immobility of hot-air
balloons. Conversely, it
provided the exploratory
potential for small-scale
surveys, anticipating the role
of motor vectors.

Thus, Wellcome’ kites could

take two types of pictures:

1. verticals, to obtain plans,

as had already been the case
with Boni and Vaglieri;

2. obliques, to gain an
overall view of the
landscape
Part I – the past
Air Mail Service in Persia, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan
Part I – the past
O.G.S. Crawford and the invention of Aerial Archaeology
Part I – the past
Mark types

vegetation marks
March-April

crop marks
May - June

Crawford (1922) Air Survey and Archaeology

Part I – the past
Mark types

Soil Marks
July-September

Germination Marks
October-December
Part I – the past
Mark types

Ice Marks
July-September

Snow Marks
October-December
Part I – the past
Mark types

Shadow Marks
Winter or (dawn, dusk)
Part I – the past
False friends

False Friends
Part I – the past
Mark types

Fire Marks
June-September
Part I – the past
Phytoarchaeological table
Part I – the past
Phytoarchaeological table
Part I – National Mapping Programme
English Heritage (22 million pictures)
Part I – Going Digital
Air Photo

Irwin Scollar – 1975/Rog Palmer - 1977

Obliquists had always been confronted with
three fundamental problems:

A. Checking distortion created by the

oblique perspective (rectification);

B. Locating precisely the mark within a

national reference grid (geo-referencing);
C. Making the millions of shots from the
archives readily available.

Scollar designed three consecutive versions

of AirPhoto, a software that can rectify
obliques into map-ready orthophotographs
needless of any photogrammetric hardware.
Part I – Verticalism

AARG – NATO 2000 Workshop

‘In Europe there is a great imbalance in
the results of aerial archaeology, with the
countries of the United Kingdom leading
the way in terms of reconnaissance,
archiving, mapping, and publication (…)
The limitations to opening up new
landscapes are the administrative
limitations as in Romania, Greece, Spain
and Bulgaria’
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia

Foggia Training School - 2003

1. Low altitude (100-400m)/
instantaneous high res

2. Pics taken in best periods

for spotting marks

3. Cheap sorties

4. High response:
1000 sites in 75 hours

5. Flexible thanks to
pilot/archaeologist synergy
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia
Part II – AARG Training Schools
Foggia
 Part II – AARG Sicily
Research Perspectives

Ottime
Prospettive
in Sicilia
Litologia dominata da formazioni Ampia diffusione di
calcarenitiche e gessose colture cerealicole

Clima steppico-arido
Precipitazioni concentrate
Part II – Prior Research
Adamesteanu, Soprintendenza della Sicilia Orientale&
Schmiedt, Aerofototeca (1950s-1970s)
Part II – Prior Research
MIVIS , Italian National Research Council (1990s)

MIVIS – 1992/97
Prospezioni del CNR-IIA su

Piazza Armerina
Gela
- Helaesa
- Selinunte
- Lilibeo
- Mozia

rivela evidenze precedentemente

ignote attraverso attraverso analisi
della radianza termica su 102
bande dello spettro comprese:

1. Visibile
2. Infrarosso vicino
3. Infrarosso medio
4. Infrarosso termico
Part II – Prior Research
Doneus, Universitat Wien/AARG (2002-3)
Part II – AARG Sicily
Part II – AARG Sicily
Part II – AARG Sicily
Part II – AARG Sicily
Part II – AARG Sicily
Part II – AARG Sicily
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Qurlyiun
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Rosamarina
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Khāsū
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Petterana
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Iato
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Khāsū
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Al Burqiya
Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials on the Bantūstān – Qasr Nuwi
 Part II – AARG Sicily
Independent trials - Conclusions

Over the last three seasons it has become apparent that archaeological crop, soil,
and damp marks are rarer instances in Sicily than one might wish.
That is hardly surprising given the high transpiration rates and consequently very
narrow visibility windows (seven to ten days at the end of May for crop marks).

Such types of marks are best viewed on well drained plains, yet only 14% of the
Island lies on flat land. Furthermore, the four largest plains (Mazara, Gela, Palermo,
Catania) are extensively covered with vineyards and citrus groves. In both cases,
ground visibility is close to zero for citrus are evergreen large-leaf trees, planted
closely together to maximise space and revenue, whereas vines are lush green from
April until the September harvest. What is more, neither will develop growth stress
for they are fully irrigated.

The dominant morphology in Sicily is rather steep land (61% of the island is hilly, i.e.
200-800 m; 24% is mountainous, i.e. over 800 m). Site natural erosion, however, is
relatively limited . So we had to look for a hilly research universe, the Province of
Enna was just right.
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
 Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey

WAYPOINT NOME AREA SCATTI DIARIO DI VOLO AARG RICOGNIZIONE SITI

NI9 MONTE ALTESINA 1-2 ARCHEOLOGICI
VI4 ??? 3-6 PROVINCIA ENNA
EN27 COZZO MATRICE 7-11 CODICE MISSIONE ENNA4
EN2 COZZO STAGLIO 12-13 PILOTA ROBERTO PASCALE
EN15 MONTE IUCULIA 14-17 PIATTAFORMA ULTRALEGGERO
EN24 MASSERIA GERACE 18-23 SAVANNAH 80 HP
EN21 SERRA D’API 24-26 FOTOGRAFO ALESSANDRO RUSSELL
PA11 MONTAGNA DI 27-38 FOTOCAMERA OLYMPUS E-500
MARZO OTTICHE 14-45 MM/40-
PA13 MONTE 39-44 DATA 29 GENNAIO 2008
MANGANELLO
PA12 VALLONE RUGGELLO 45
PA4 MASSERIA BRAEMI 46-48 DURATA 10.00-14.00 (4 H)
PA5 MONTE NAVONE 49-53
CONDIZIONI METEO SERENO
PI1 RUNZI 54-59
VISIBILITA’ MOLTO BUONA ()
PA6 MONTE POLINO 60
TEMPERATURA SUL
PA3 MONTE ROBIATO 61-65
LIVELLO DEL MARE
PA10 VILLA DEL CASALE 66-74
PIAZZA MODERNA 75-80 ITINERARIO DI VOLO CAMPOFELICE-NICOSIA-
AI1 QUARTIERE 96 VILLAROSA-ENNA-PIAZZA
ELLENISTICO ARMERINA-
AI2 AGORA’ 88-95 PIETRAPERZIA-
AI3 MONTE CITTADELLA 81-87 PIAZZARMERINA-AIDONE-
AI4 MONTE BURNEA 100-104 CALASCIBETTA-
AI5 MONTE CRUNICI 97-99 DISTANZA PERCORSA 432,651
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part II – AARG Sicily
The Enna Survey
Part III – AARG Sicily
Constellations of high-res, high revisitation frquency, micro-satellites
Part III – AARG Sicily
Retrieving WW2 material
 Part III - National Mapping Programme
English Heritage expenditure

Year Mapped area Staff Air Sorties Targets Plane costs

(sq km) Hours

1996 2225 20 235.9 63 2407 € 60.000

1997 1250 18,5 260 68 2195 € 69.000

1998 2225 17,5 296 79 1952 € 71.000

Totale 5700 55 791,9 210 6554 € 200.000

(= € 1,6 M)
Spese € 1,8 M € 0,8 M
(UK) >>> (Sicilia) >>>
 In loving memory of
G.D.B. Jones
Dean of the School of Art History and Archaeology
University of Manchester
Con il quale una volta avevamo scommesso
su chi sarebbe riuscito a rimanere
per più tempo coi piedi off the ground.
Come al solito, ha vinto lui.
E adesso ci guarda dalla prospettiva che ama.

Alessandro Russell, B.A., D.Lett., M.A.

Representative
Aerial Archaeology Research Group
Sicily Sub-Committee
w http://aarg.univie.ac.at
m sandrorussell@hotmail.com
s alerussell
t +39 349 125 1825
Contatti

Alessandro Russell, B.A., D.Lett., M.A.

Representative
Aerial Archaeology Research Group
Sicily Sub-Committee
w http://aarg.univie.ac.at
m sandrorussell@hotmail.com
s alerussell
t +39 349 125 1825