This paper presents an algorithm for large-scale automatic detection of burial mounds, one of the most common types of archaeological sites globally, using LiDAR and multispectral satellite data. Although previous attempts were able to detect a good proportion of the known mounds in a given area, they still presented high numbers of false positives and low precision values. Our proposed approach combines random forest for soil classification using multitemporal multispectral Sentinel-2 data and a deep learning model using YOLOv3 on LiDAR data previously pre-processed using a multi–scale relief model. The resulting algorithm significantly improves previous attempts with a detection rate of 89.5%, an average precision of 66.75%, a recall value of 0.64 and a precision of 0.97, which allowed, with a small set of training data, the detection of 10,527 burial mounds over an area of near 30,000 km2, the largest in which such an approach has ever been applied. The open code and platforms employed to develop the algorithm allow this method to be applied anywhere LiDAR data or high-resolution digital terrain models are available.

Several works have highlighted the relevance of 3D modelling techniques for the study of rock art, especially in case of deteriorated state of preservation. This paper presents a methodological approach to accurate document two Bronze Age rock art panels in Galicia (Spain), using photogrammetry SfM. The main aim is to show the application of digital enhancement techniques which have allowed the accurate depiction of the motifs and the correction of previous calques, focusing on the application of the exaggerated shading as a novel analytical method.

Research on the Neolithic monuments and dwellings of Atlantic Europe has shown that plays of light and colour were tools for the social and symbolic construction of the world. The integration of the architectures into the surrounding landscape and the incorporation of the surrounding landscape into the architectures were an essential part of this logic. In this context, recent research in the megalithic passage grave of Dombate has evidenced an unusual physical manifestation of sunlight, which interacts with the decorated back stone. The light-and-shadow phenomenon occurs at sunrise during the period of winter solstice. In this paper we discuss the particulars of this phenomenon and we argue that sunlight when it penetrates the passage and chamber at sunrise on these dates may have dictated how the art was located and applied to the structural stone. Such differentiation seems to have had important cultural and ritual significance and encoded/embedded meaning for the tomb builders and may have implications for the consideration of the symbolic dimension of similar architectures in Atlantic Europe.

This paper investigates the land- and sky-scapes surrounding the dolmens of Costa da Morte (Coast of Death), Galicia. Having uncovered previously that the location of megalithic monuments in this coherent area of the south-eastern side of the European Atlantic Façade connects to complex topographical features, we now show how this chosen topography connects to astronomical phenomena. We will see how the detailed shape of the horizon coincides with specific risings and settings of the Sun and Moon, providing further support for the notion that the creators of these monuments selectively drew upon a variety of features found in their natural world.

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