BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Archaeological Technology

Resources for the 21st-century archaeologist

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Archaeology is quickly moving into a new era. While archaeologists aren’t ready to forgo their trowels just yet, the introduction of a new 21st-century toolkit has already transformed the field. Every excavation uses archaeological technology differently. Some select dig sites based on satellite imagery, while others save technology for post-excavation visualizations. As burgeoning digitization technologies enter the day-to-day of archaeological fieldwork, the Biblical Archaeology Society Archaeological Technology Scholar’s Study will be your one-stop guide into the future of the past.

Resources on technology in archaeology

Read more about each of these articles below.

• Cyber-Archaeology in the Holy Land — The Future of the Past (full free eBook)

• Practical Uses for Photogrammetry on Archaeological Excavations

• GIS in Archaeology

• Archaeological Views: New Eyeballs on Ancient Texts

• Try the Latest Technology for Yourself

Cyber-Archaeology has led to the development of new recording techniques, analytical methods, visualization tools and data-sharing structures. The FREE Biblical Archaeology Society eBook Cyber-Archaeology in the Holy Land — The Future of the Past is the authoritative guide for archaeologists wanting to learn more about a diverse and integrated toolkit—including GPS, Light Detection and Ranging Laser Scanning, unmanned aerial drones, 3D artifact scans, CAVE visualization environments and collaborative online databases. Written by pioneering researchers from the University of California, San Diego’s Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology, the FREE eBook Cyber-Archaeology in the Holy Land — The Future of the Past is a must-read guide.

While new digital technologies are produced every day, archaeological photography is still the cornerstone of site visualization and analysis. How do archaeologists make accurate measurements, create site plans, compare stratigraphy and digitize image data out of straightforward digital photographs? In the article “Practical Uses for Photogrammetry on Archaeological Excavations,” Adam Prins and Matthew J. Adams of the Jezreel Valley Regional Project provide an intelligible and illustrated step-by-step guide to a process known as photogrammetry. Learn how excavators combine total station survey data, traditional archaeological photography and geospatial rectification to create comprehensible images of sites and stratigraphy.

Find out more about the experience of using archaeology technology in the field. BAS Library Members, read “Digs Go Digital” as it appeared in BAR.

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are quickly changing the way archaeologists record where excavated artifacts are found on their digs. These spatial databases combine information collected from maps, GPS (Global Positioning Systems), site plans, photos and notes into a single geographic search engine that can easily retrieve anything that has been recorded about a particular artifact or feature from a site. Learn about this common archaeological mapping technology in Glenn J. Corbett’s Bible History Daily exclusive “GIS in Archaeology.”

The study of ancient texts—especially those that tell us most about the cultures from which the Bible emerged—is on the edge of a revolution. Dramatic new imaging technologies are just now becoming available that allow us to see and reclaim the readings of ancient documents in a manner never before possible. In an archaeological views column, University of Southern California Hebrew Bible Professor Bruce Zuckerman describes how Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) allows for unprecedented control of how an image is displayed, especially in terms of the play of light so crucial to bringing out hidden details that are often the key to proper interpretation. In a Bible History Daily web-exclusive feature, readers can see the power of RTI imaging for themselves. Enjoy videos that show RT images in action. Learn more about how and why RTI works. Plus, download a free RTI viewer and some sample RTI images so you can—quite literally—get the picture.

Are you an archaeologist or researcher working with new field or lab technology or techniques? We’d love to hear the latest methodologies and innovations in your research. Click here to get in touch with a BAS editor about including your research in our technology section.

Archaeological technology in Bible History Daily news

Ara Pacis Illuminated

Ancient Antioch: Mapping Political and Trade Networks with Google Earth

Mesopotamian “Receipts” Illuminated by 3D Technology

Video: 3-D Digging at Çatalhöyük

Examining the Philistines Up Close

3-D Printing the Ancient World

Archaeologists Use Satellites to Identify Thousands of Sites in Syria

A New Light on Proto-Elamite, the World’s Oldest Unknown Script

Southampton Archaeologists and Engineers Get a New Perspective on Unexcavated Artifacts

Cyber-Archaeology at Petra

Digitizing Israel’s Scientific Archive