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The Viroconium Cornoviorum Atlas: high resolution, high precision non-invasive mapping of a Roman civitas capital in Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Martijn van Leusen ,
Glynn Barratt  and
Vince Gaffney
Martijn van Leusen
Affiliation:
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research/Groningen Institute of Archaeology
Glynn Barratt
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Vince Gaffney
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Abstract

Accurate mapping of the 78-ha Roman town of Viroconium (modern-day Wroxeter in Shropshire, UK) in preparation for detailed research and site management proved a task that requires the use of modern information techniques. This article describes the creation of high spatial accuracy maps by the use of GPS-located gradiometer survey data in order to georeference available aerial photographs, and the use of digital processing of aerial photographs to obtain additional information invisible to the unaided eye. A GIS is being used to build a vectorized interpreted map of the town with a spatial error typically less than one metre. The results compare favourably with previous mapping efforts based on traditional methods.

Des techniques informatiques modernes ont été utilisées lors d'un levé de plan très précis des 78 hectares de la ville romaine de Viroconium (ville moderne de Wroxeter, Shropshire, UK), pour des recherches détaillés et la gestion du site. Cet article décrit comment une grande exactitude spatiale a pu être achevée grace aux résultats produits lors de l'utilisation d'un gradiométre éuipé d'un outil de localisation par satellite, afin de géoreferencer les photographies aeriennes disponibles ainsi que leur digitalisation qui a permis d'obtenir des informations additionelles invisibles à l'oeil nu. Un système d'information géographique a été utilisé pour la production d'une carte vectorielle de la ville avec une erreur spatiale de moins d'un mètre. Ces résultats se comparent donc très favorablement à ceux obtenus à partir de méthodes traditionelles.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Bei der Vorbereitung von Detailuntersuchungen und Erhaltungsmassnahmen zeigte sich, dass das Ziel einer genaue Aufnahme der 78 ha grossen Stadt von Viroconium (des heutigen Wroxeter in Shropshire, GB), den Einsatz moderner Informationstechnologien erforderte. Der Artikel beschreibt die Herstellung höher räumlicher Genauigkeit durch den Gebrauch von GPS-gestützter Gradiometer Survey Daten in Verbindung mit Luftbildern als Geo-Referenzmaterial sowie den Gebrauch von digitalisierten Luftbildern um zusätzliche, für das ungeschulte Auge unsichtbare Informationen, zu erhalten. Ein Informationssystem wird benützt um einen vektorisiert ausgewerteten Plan der Stadt, mit einem kennzeichnenden räumlichen Fehler von weniger als einem Meter, zu erstellen. Die Ergebnisse stellen eine Verbesserung gegenüber den auf traditionellen Methoden basierten Kartierungsversuchen dar.

Keywords

digital mappingGISGPSimage enhancementspatial accuracy
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , 1999 , pp. 393 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 Sage Publications 

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