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GPR Ground Penetrating Radar. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a tool archaeologists will use more and more for excavations in the 21st century. GPR allows archaeologists to survey archaeological sites in a short amount of time with precision and without digging . Basic Principles.
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Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a tool archaeologists willuse more and more for excavations in the 21st century. GPR allows archaeologists to survey archaeological sites in a short amount of time with precision and without digging.
Basic Principles • Uses radio waves to create picture of underground before excavation • Picture is used to locate any variations in the sub-surfaces
Basic Mechanism • Electrode magnetic waves emitted into the ground and time measured for wave to be reflected and received • When wave hits areas of change in soil, it is hit back to receiver antenna • Changes in soil can include objects buried underneath the surface
Greater surface difference = Stronger signal • Strong signal has large amplitude • Weak signal has small amplitude • Amplitude wavelength and time are used to create image of what is underground
RDPRelative Dielectric Permitivity • “RDP is ability of a material to store and allow passage of electromagnetic energy when a field is imposed upon it.” • RDP of a substance = electrical permitivity / vacuum
K = RDP C = Speed of light V = Velocity of radar energy
GPR Depth Determination Dielectric constants for common materials D = depth of target (in) t = wave travel time (nanosec) 5.9 = a constant incorporating speed of light and unit conversions Er = dielectric constant of subsurface material D = (5.9t)/sqrt of (Er)
Example How deep below the surface is an object that is detected at 46 ns in dry sand (Er = 4)? Answer: D = (5.9 x 46) / sqrt (4) D = 135.7 in Therefore the object is about 11 ft underground
Equipment Consists of: 1. control unit 2. display unit 3. transmitting and receiving unit
Case Studies • Cave of Letters • Bethesaida, Israel • Forum Novum
Cave of Letters • Site located in Nahal, Hever (a canyon by the Dead Sea) • GPR was used to map possible excavation sites in the Cave of Letters
Artifacts Found • Coins • Clothes • Letters mentioning Jewish leader Bar-Kokhba who had fought against the Romans around the middle first century
Bethesaida, Israel • Located in Northern Israel near the sea of Galilee • Was an active fishing community 2000 years ago • Site where Jesus healed a blind man and walked on water
Overview Movie • http://www.joeinfo.com/gpr/overview.MOV
Bethsaida Excavation • GPR has tested land for cave locations • Artifacts found: 1. coins (dated as far back as 1st and 2nd Century) 2. child’s sandal 3. fabric 4. pottery 5. human bones and remains
Antenna Movie • http://www.joeinfo.com/gpr/antenna.MOV
Recently, Dr. Harry Jol, professor of geography at the University ofWisconsin - Eau Claire, used GPR to map an area by the city gates of Bethsaida
Vescovio, Italy • Romaneque church of Santa Maria • Remains of marketplace, living quarters, storage areas, hallways and door entrances reconstructed visually
Forum Novum • Remains of marketplace, living quarters, storage areas, hallways and door entrances reconstructed visually • Believed to be Roman marketplace which initially began construction in the 1st century BC and flourished through the 4th century AD as the Roman town of the Forum Novum
Excavation • British School of Archaeology in Rome have conducted excavation sites • Sites include: 1. an amphitheatre 2. a bath complex 3. the villa 4. a tomb complex 5. crypts from the 8th to 9th centuries located behind the church
Wrap up… GPR usage has become more wide-spread Now used in construction Average person can now purchase GPR equipment