A complete new view of Stonehenge’s landscape

Author:Renata BarradasGutiérrez

地理空间技术正在重塑考古学家如何研究和解锁历史的秘密。巨石阵是英国最著名的地标和研究的纪念碑之一，在经过几个世纪的发掘和理论之后，正在用现代工具揭示。有了超过10，000年的历史，这个联合国教科文组织世界遗产（包括它所在的更广阔的景观）已被数字映射，以披露数百种新功能，从而使我们对这一标志性文化景观的理解更加明显。

To solve its mysteries, archaeologists from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro) and the University of Birmingham used geospatial technologies, such as laser scanning, magnetometry and ground penetrating radar combined with geographic information systems (GIS) and GNSS positioning, tocreate digital models at a true scale。The models包括可见和无形的考古特征，这些特征是统一数字地图的一部分。

Thisfive-year archaeology projectachieved what conventional excavation methods would have taken several decades to complete. The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project is the largest endeavour of its kind,revealing hidden monumentsaround the area to understand how they interconnect with Stonehenge and its surrounding sacred landscape, and the people who built them.

非侵入性考古学工具

该项目始建于2010年，其目标是通过对最先进的地球物理调查和遥感技术的无缝调查来创建巨石阵周围整个景观的详细数字考古图。

To achieve this, non-invasive prospection methods were used to map the visible and invisible:
• Leica Geosystems robotic total stations and field software
• Leica Geosystems GNSS and GPS systems
• High-resolution magnetometer prospection
• Ground-penetrating radar (GPR)
• 电磁感应
• 3D laser scanning

The new所有这些设备都检索到的数据揭示了10，000年的人类进步以及周围蓬勃发展的文化和人们。测量将接地雷达，高分辨率磁力计和3D激光扫描和地球物理仪器的数据组合在GIS中，然后进行分析以生成多层数字地图，以显示景观如何在数千年前发展。

Finding lost monuments in vacant space

Thebiggest geophysical prospection survey ever doneworldwide resulted in thediscovery of several unknown monumentsin the space surrounding the well-known stone circle.

“Developing non-invasive methods to document our cultural heritage is one of the greatest challenges of our time and can only be accomplished by adapting the latest technology, such as ground-penetrating radar arrays and high-resolution magnetometers,”said Professor Wolfgang Neubauer, director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute.“路德维希·鲍尔茨曼（Ludwig Boltzmann）考古学研究所和虚拟考古学研究所的发展为进行基本考古研究提供了规模和精确性的机会。”

GPRwith Leica GeosystemsGNSS antennas were used to map the underground with a geo-referenced local coordinate system。Using Leica Geosystems GPS systems, LBI archaeologists could establish a network of control points for tracking of the measurement equipment. Centimetre-accuracy and speed of the geo-referencing method were essential for this task.

As part of the challenges, the team had to develop all motorised systems and keep them running on site while accomplishing the work in short time periods. Repairs, modifications and developments had to be done on site and on their own. Prof. Neubauer and his team used Leica Geosystems GNSS and Leica Geosystems robotic total stations to track and navigate the novel motorized survey tools and to georeference the exact position of the “anomalies” revealed by the survey.

异常检测到探地雷达2013年,最初的巴厘岛eved to be buried stones, have been staked out using Leica Geosystems total stations at Durrington Walls, 3 kilometres from the stone circle. The following excavations proofed the anomalies to be the stony refill of large pits for massive timber posts forming a major monument with a diameter of more than 500 metres predating the stone circle. The excavation project used fully 3D digital documentation including Leica Geoystems total stations and was awarded英国考古学在2016年英国最佳项目。

揭示了古老的工程野心

Stonehenge is not isolated in its landscape. The findings helped to conceive Stonehenge, at the heart of a fast evolving and dynamic sacred landscape with a size of40 kilometres squared。空前规模的调查和解决became possible due to technological advancements and knowledge and uncovered the complex interconnections between the surviving monuments and many other new discovered monuments belonging to the lost civilizations. This allowed scientist and researchers to put it all together in one big picture – allowing to accurately tell Stonehenge’s story as part of a sacred landscape.

Stonehenge can only be understood by looking at the monuments around it and how that landscape has evolved. Using cutting edge, multi-sensor technologies, numerous archaeological structures could be uncovered, such as the new large timber monument at Durrington Walls. The results of the survey include 17 new Neolithic including barrows, henges, ditches and enormous prehistoric pits, dating to the periods before, contemporary and after the time when Stonehenge was at its zenith. Built to celebrate the passage of the sun, linking its position with the landscape, the new discoveries support the ritual significance of Stonehenge and its landscape on the Salisbury Plain in England.

Reinventing Stonehenge for this generation

What was initially carved with stone and bone tools has been unveiled with 21st century geospatial technology. The hundreds of new-discovered features allowed researchers to produce a more detailed archaeological digital map, thus, revealing the big picture of Stonehenge. Leica Geosystems equipment helped archaeologists to trace the marks of humans that occupied the landscape during the last 10,000 years and to contextualise the site in space and time into digital maps, which will guide how Stonehenge and its landscape are studied in the future.