Geodetic work at the archaeological site Tell el-Retaba

Abstract

The paper summarizes the geodetic contribution for the Slovak team within the joint Polish-Slovak archaeological mission at Tell el-Retaba in Egypt. Surveying work at archaeological excavations is usually influenced by somewhat specific subject of study and extreme conditions, especially at the missions in the developing countries. The case study describes spatial data development according to the archaeological conventions in order to document spatial relationships between the objects in excavated trenches. The long-term sustainability of surveying work at the site has been ensured by detailed metadata recording. Except the trench mapping, Digital Elevation Model has been calculated for the study area and for the north-eastern part of the site, with promising preliminary results for further detection and modelling of archaeological structures. In general, topographic mapping together with modern technologies like Photogrammetry, Satellite Imagery, and Remote Sensing provide valuable data sources for spatial and statistical modelling of the sites; and the results offer a different perspective for the archaeological research.

Keywords

• Land surveying
• Spatial modelling
• Archaeological excavation
• Tell el-Retaba