Aerial Archaeology in Britain - Softcover

Riley, D. N.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0852635923 ISBN 13: 9780852635926

Publisher: Shire Pubns, 1982

Synopsis

Aerial surveying is an important technique used in archaeology, providing a new perspective on large sites or features that are hidden at ground level. From an airplane, the bird's eye view can provide clues about ancient foundations buried beneath the surface by analyzing the soil color, growth of vegetation and even shadows cast by protruding objects or uneven ground. Many of the photographs taken during aerial observation reveal evidence of how our ancestors lived, and the photographs taken before World War II are particularly valuable as many historic sites were plowed through after the war. This book uses fascinating photographs to illustrate the ways in which buried sites can be viewed from the air, and detailed diagrams to explain how these artifacts change the appearance of the ground and how they can be mapped and interpreted. An extraordinary number of discoveries have been made and recorded by aerial archaeologists and the author uncovers the most influential and remarkable finds in this comprehensive introduction to a captivating subject.

About this title

About the Author:

Derrick N. Riley became interested in archaeology and also in flying, during his schooldays. His experience of aerial archaeology dated back to the Second World War, when he was a pilot in the Royal Air Force. During periods of duty as a flying instructor he observed numerous archaeological sites, some of which he was able to photograph and publish. Later he became very active as an air photographer of ancient sites in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Humberside and published many of the results in the journals of local archaeological societies and in Early Landscape from the Air, a book issued in 1980. An honorary lecturer in the Departments of Prehistory and Archaeology and of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at Sheffield University, he was given the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa. Derrick Riley died in 1993 and this new edition has been revised, and expanded with a new chapter on recent developments, by Dr Robert H. Bewley, of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of History.

About this edition

• Publisher: Shire Pubns
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0852635923
• ISBN 13: 9780852635926
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 56