UAVs in Historic Archaeology: Case Studies from Virginia City and Aurora, Nevada

Summary

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or ‘drones’ are an emerging technology for use in archaeological investigation. With UAVs, it is possible to capture a series of high-resolution images capable of creating photogrammetric 3D models at a very low cost. Recently, I have undertaken two projects in Nevada that demonstrate the usefulness of UAV technology in Historic Archaeology. Using a UAV, I collected sequences of images from both Virginia City and Aurora, Nevada. Using photogrammetric software, the compiled data was turned into a series of 3D models. Both projects were created to test different applications of UAV technology in archaeology. The aim of the Virginia City project was to experiment with the viability of quickly, and inexpensively using UAVs to create 3D landscape models; while the goal of the Aurora project was to provide an avenue to explore UAV technology for site monitoring, topographic survey, and preservation. In both cases, we found that UAVs can provide a low cost alternative to gather data for archaeological investigation. These case studies provide an example for how this important technology can be employed in future archaeological studies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage