Premium
Geophysical diffraction tomography: New views on the shiqmim prehistoric subterranean village site (israel)
Author(s) -
Witten Alan J.,
Levy Thomas E.,
Ursic James,
White Paul
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.3340100202
Subject(s) - prehistory , geology , architecture , excavation , geophysics , archaeology , geophysical survey , abandonment (legal) , paleontology , geography , political science , law
Shiqmim is a late prehistoric farming village in the Beersheva river valley in Israel's northern Negev desert dating to the late 5th‐early 4th millennia B. C. Along with surface architecture, archaeologists discovered a sequence of large subterranean rooms interconnected by narrow tunnels. This discovery, found in the northern Negev, as well as similar subterranean features and dating back to the same period, has created considerable controversy as to the functions of this innovative architecture. To a large extent, this controversy results from conflicting hypotheses based on the small sample of subterranean Negev architectures. A fundamental task in the resolution of these problems is the location and investigation of similar features within this region. This is not a simple task because these subterranean features can be as much as 7 m deep in hard‐packed soil and are usually completely filled with fine sediment as a result of depositional forces acting over the 6 millennium since their abandonment. To help quantify the spatial extent of subterranean features at Shiqmim and identify particularly promising locations for excavation, an emerging geophysical method, known as geophysical diffraction tomography, was applied. This method is based on the propagation of acoustic waves and employs the mathematical concepts of optical holography to reconstruct quantitative, high‐resolution images of the subsurface environment. Two geophysical imaging field studies were performed at Shiqmim, and the results of these studies indicate that subterranean architecture is much more pervasive at this site than previously thought. The new geophysical studies help answer social questions and highlight the contribution of geoarchaeology to anthropological reconstructions of the past. This article discusses geophysical diffraction tomography and the first attempt to apply it in an archaeological context. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.