DEVELOPING METHODOLOGIES FOR NEW ENVIRONMENTS: ICELAND AS A CASE STUDY

Non-destructive archaeological prospection techniques are now well established in many parts of the world, being routinely employed in a range of environments. However, certain geological and archaeological situations present specific problems for such prospection and workers are often discouraged from attempting surveys when these are encountered. Such limiting factors include intense thermoremanent effects due to underlying igneous parent material, (either bedrock or glacial deposits); situations where archaeological remains are covered by natural sediments, (such as alluvium, aeolian sand or volcanic ash); and sites at which the archaeological record is characterized by anthropogenic deposits left by transient occupation. For geophysical techniques to be routinely and confidently used in new environments where these and other factors are found, it is necessary to assess the extent to which they influence the detection of archaeological remains.

This paper describes the development of a novel methodology to systematically assess archaeological prospection methods in Iceland, a country where the application of geophysical methods has remained limited to a few isolated investigations. Since 1999, high resolution magnetometer and earth resistance surveys have been conducted throughout Iceland to encompass the range of archaeological features and the variety of geological and geomorphological situations. The results of these surveys were subsequently integrated with other sources of archaeological evidence to allow a proper assessment of their success for not only locating buried remains, but also for their characterization and interpretation.