1. AERIAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Aerial photography has been an invaluable
source of non invasive and large scale survey
of the UK for nearly a century. The large
number of photographs taken during and
immediately after the Second World War are a
valuable resource in themselves and since
then, we have had the flying archaeologists in
light aircraft and even helicopters. They have
flown both in search of new monuments and
cropmarks, as well as recording the landscape as a whole, putting monuments into a
spatial relationship with the topography and other monuments. Link to full
publication.
2. LIDAR IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Lidar, like radar, is an acronym and stands for light detection
and ranging, which describes the method of determining
three-dimensional data points by the application of a laser. It
is a Remote Sensing technique, using either ground-based
(Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS)) or airborne systems
(Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS)), and is also referred to as
Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM)… Airborne lidar,
therefore, provides the ability to collect very large quantities
of high precision three-dimensional measurements in a short
time This facilitates very detailed analysis of a single site, or
data capture of entire landscapes. Link to full publication.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Making decisions based on geography is basic
to human thinking. Where shall we go, what
will it be like, and what shall we do when we
get there are applied to the simple event of
going to the store or to the major event of
launching a bathysphere into the ocean’s
depths. By understanding geography and
people’s relationship to location, we can make
informed decisions about the way we live on
our planet. A GIS is a technological tool for
comprehending geography and making
intelligent decisions… With an ability to
combine a variety of datasets in an infinite
number of ways, GIS is a useful tool for nearly every field of knowledge from
archaeology to zoology. Link to full publication.

Guidelines for English Heritage projects involving GIS: As modernisation occurs and GIS
becomes available to all members of English Heritage staff it becomes essential that the
quality of data received from externally commissioned projects is known and a minimum
standard for acceptable data is set. This document therefore gives basic guidelines for projects involving GIS to ensure that English Heritage can gain maximum benefits from the data which is generated. Link.