Summary

This handbook is the first comprehensive overview of the field of satellite remote sensing for archaeology and how it can be applied to ongoing archaeological fieldwork projects across the globe. It provides a survey of the history and development of the field, connecting satellite remote sensing in archaeology to broader developments in remote sensing, archaeological method and theory, cultural resource management, and environmental studies. With a focus on practical uses of satellite remote sensing, Sarah H. Parcak evaluates satellite imagery types and remote sensing analysis techniques specific to the discovery, preservation, and management of archaeological sites.

Case studies from Asia, Central America, and the Middle East are explored, including Xi'an, China; Angkor Wat, Cambodia and Egypt's floodplains. In-field surveying techniques particular to satellite remote sensing are emphasized, providing strategies for recording ancient features on the ground observed from space. The book also discusses broader issues relating to archaeological remote sensing ethics, looting prevention, and archaeological site preservation. New sensing research is included and illustrated with the inclusion of over 160 satellite images of ancient sites.

With a companion website (www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415448789) with further resources and colour images, Satellite Remote Sensing for Archaeology will provide anyone interested in scientific applications to uncovering past archaeological landscapes a foundation for future research and study.

Choice Review

This first-rate work shows archaeologists (and other scholars) how to make the most of the largely "free" visual images from Google Earth and NASA World Wind, as well as satellite images of greater spatial resolution and higher wavelength spectral resolution that, although not free, are within the budget of most archaeological projects. The work offers three interlocking strengths. First, Parcak (anthropology, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham) provides an excellent introduction to the several types of satellite images, what they might offer archaeologists looking for sites, what the sites' contemporary natural settings are, what the images' limitations might be, and how one might obtain these images. Second, given that these images are essentially matrices of numbers, the author addresses how numerical analyses can be applied to these measures to give visual results of interest to archaeologists and those who manage archaeological resources. Third, Parcak takes method and technique to the ground through a series of case studies that range from ancient China, Egypt, Cambodia, and Guatemala to the ways satellite imagery can be deployed to conserve the tombs at Xi'an, the temples around Angkor Wat, and the Mayan city of Tikal. Any archaeologist who contemplates using satellite imagery should begin with this book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. C. S. Peebles emeritus, Indiana University-Bloomington