Geospatial strategies for mapping large scale archaeological site destruction: The case from Egypt

Summary

This paper will focus on the use of innovative new tools and technologies for the mapping of archaeological site destruction. Post Arab Spring, the Middle East has seen an increasing amount of looting and general site destruction, yet how is it possible to locate, map, and quantify these activities to save the sites? The author used a series of high resolution satellites images as well as Google Earth to map looting in Egypt from 2002-2013. The methodology is one that can easily be replicated globally, and could be used as a way to map the global problem of site looting. If we do not map affected site, we simply will not know where to start to protect them. The paper will focus on her work in Egypt, but will discuss other countries as well as additional approaches like crowdsourcing.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Investigating the trafficking of cultural objects: novel and interdisciplinary approaches   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage