A Birds Eye View of War: The Role of Historic Maps and Aerial-Based Imagery in the Archaeological investigation of Unaccounted-For U.S. military Personnel.

Summary

As "snapshot" documents of the past, historical maps, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery are a valuable source for the archaeological investigation of major conflicts throughout the past eight decades.  Although many of these documents were initially acquired and then maintained in secret in the context of major conflict or clandestine purposes, decades later they are proving to be of much benefit and unintended value for historical and archaeological research.  This paper will present an overview of how historical maps and aerial-based images are used in conjunction with archaeological data to locate and recover unaccounted-for U.S. military personnel from various twentieth century conflicts throughout the world.  In addition, bringing these examples to wider attention illustrates the potential application in a forensic, historical, and archaeological context, as well as encourage further use.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• "Same Same, but Different": Considerations and Approaches to Archaeology within the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 656