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Ground penetrating radar study of iron age tombs in Southeastern Kazakhstan
Author(s) -
Pipan M.,
Baradello L.,
Forte E.,
Finetti I.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
archaeological prospection
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.785
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1099-0763
pISSN - 1075-2196
DOI - 10.1002/arp.162
Subject(s) - ground penetrating radar , geology , radar , excavation , offset (computer science) , attenuation , data processing , seismology , mineralogy , geotechnical engineering , computer science , telecommunications , physics , optics , programming language , operating system
Abstract An international archaeological and geophysical expedition was carried out to study Iron Age tombs of the Saka culture in southeastern Kazakhstan. Single‐fold and multifold ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, in two and two and a half dimensions, focused on the identification of burial chambers beneath the mound‐shaped Saka tumuli, named kourgans. Primary objectives of the geophysical study were the testing and optimization of GPR techniques for studying this type of tomb and the reconstruction of subsurface images of use for the design of archaeological excavations. Single‐fold GPR grids with line spacing ranging between 50 and 200 cm were obtained at each of the 13 sites selected. After identification of the sectors of major potential interest from data processing performed directly in the field and interpretation of the single‐fold grids, multifold profiles with average 1200 per cent fold were designed and performed. Processing of the data focused on velocity analyses, pre‐stack coherent noise attenuation by means of FK and KL filters, stacking and analysis of the instantaneous attributes of the complex radar trace. Multifold GPR data processing techniques achieved a substantial increment in the signal to noise ratio at most sites, allowed accurate depth conversions of the stacked profiles (average deviation of estimated target location from the actual target was less than 5% of total depth) and provided indications to identify the characteristic response from the target of interest through the joint interpretation of pre‐stack gathers, velocity analysis and amplitude versus offset analysis. Interpretation of stacked sections and three‐dimensional models obtained from the single‐fold/multifold grid allowed the identification of a burial chamber located at an estimated depth of 140–150 cm, which was excavated successfully by the archaeological team. Further reflectors with similar characteristics are shown from other sites, which will be excavated by the next archaeological expeditions to the area. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.