AI will protect archaeological sites from destruction during excavations

Scientists have developed a methodology for remote search and research of archaeological sites. It represents a complex of innovative technologies, including mathematical modeling and machine learning. The work was carried out by specialists from Chelyabinsk State University, Yugra State University, and the Bulashevich Institute of Geophysics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Using the methodology, the authors studied the Bronze Age monuments in the valleys of the Uy and Sintashta rivers: the vicinity of the ancient settlements of Stepnoye and Levoberezhnoye, as well as the recently discovered fortified settlements of Nizhneuspenskoye and Verkhneuralskoye.

They applied various combinations of methods. A digital 2D model of the terrain, built on the basis of satellite and aerial photographs, the results of surveying the territory using an electronic total station device, as well as electrical intelligence data, allowed detecting objects underground. The authors analyzed the 2D model of the relief of settlements using a previously developed neural network. This made it possible to determine the exact boundaries of the ancient settlements for further research. The researchers studied individual structures of archaeological sites on their detailed digital 3D copies.

"The proposed system of remote non-destructive testing can be applied in different territories. In the future, we plan to use it to study the archaeological sites of the Bronze Age of Northern Xinjiang in China, which have a similar landscape and characteristic visual and digital markers of cultural sites," Alexander Vokhmintsev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, head of the scientific research laboratory "Intelligent Information Technologies and Systems" at Chelyabinsk State University, told Izvestia.

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Underground codes: AI will protect archaeological sites from destruction during excavations