Drones over excavations – Enhancing the archaeologist’s eyes. An empirical case study into the deployment of UAS remote sensing as a research tool for archaeological excavation, in Veldhoven, the Netherlands
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In the context of archaeological excavation, the application of drone remote sensing has seen limited exploration. This paper demonstrates the potential in the context of drone remote sensing deployment over an excavation of an area of Iron Age and Roman period habitation in Veldhoven, The Netherlands. The result of two recording moments using optical, multispectral, and thermal sensors, are archaeologically interpreted, validated, and correlated to the outcomes of a sedimentological analysis of collected sediment samples. This eventually lays bare the interaction between remote sensing visualised data models, expert analysis, reflection attributes of different sediment properties, and archaeological formation processes. The end result is a useful and empirically researched characterization of the causal mechanism that provides a firm base for a model to interpret future drone remote sensing results in excavation contexts.
Authors: Jitte Waagen, Anne van Hilst
Institutions: University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,910
OpenAlex ID: W4407453287