Archaeological prospection: An introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

Archaeological prospection, as the use of geophysical methods in archaeology is known in Europe, is about four decades old (seven decades, if aerial photography of archaeological sites is included). Virtually the entire range of geophysical methods, perhaps excluding only borehole techniques, has found application in the search for archaeological sites unseen or partially known. Pressures by developers, and the public's growing sensitivity toward the preservation of historic and prehistoric cultural artifacts and sites, has led to an accelerating use of high-resolution geophysical methods in the archaeological sciences. The archaeogeophysical articles in this Special Issue are reasonably representative of the development of this specialty field of geophysics.