Field Boundaries and Ancient Settlement Sites. Observations from the Regional Survey around Buto, Western Delta

Schiestl, Robert (2012): Field Boundaries and Ancient Settlement Sites. Observations from the Regional Survey around Buto, Western Delta. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, Bd. 68: S. 175-190

Abstract

This article focuses on a group of sites which are generally classified as lost: small levelled tells in the cultivated land of the Nile Delta. Methods for recognizing such sites with the help of a combination of recent satellite images from google earth pro, images from Corona satellite from 1968 and detailed Survey of Egypt maps from different periods of the 20th century are discussed. Distinctive patterns of field boundaries can be recognized which assist localizing the former tells precisely. It also becomes clear that field boundaries can accurately reflect the exact outlines of the tells. The discussed sites were visited in the course of the Regional Survey around Buto, which was initiated in 2010. The results of surface and sub-surface studies for gaining additional information on these sites are also evaluated. Small settlement units are underrepresented both in archaeological field work and surveys in Egypt. In the survey region it can be shown that small tells, most likely representing small villages, have suffered the greatest rate of destruction. Satellite imagery provides an archive for documenting the steps of destruction in the course of the last 40 years. This method may also hold the potential to spot further sites which to date have not been documented.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Keywords: Egypt, Delta, survey, landscape archaeology, remote sensing, satellite imagery
• Fakultät: Geschichts- und Kunstwissenschaften > Historisches Seminar > Alte Geschichte
• Themengebiete: 900 Geschichte und Geografie > 930 Geschichte des Altertums (bis ca. 499), Archäologie ; 900 Geschichte und Geografie > 960 Geschichte Afrikas
• Sprache: Englisch