A European-Scale Investigation of Soil Erosion Threat to Subsurface Archaeological Remains

Abstract

This communication emanates from the lack of a European-scale study for investigating the potential threats that subsurface archaeological remains face today due to soil loss by water. This research analyses the impact of soil loss on potential subsurface archaeological evidence by integrating open geospatial datasets deriving from two pertinent European studies. The first study's dataset is related to soil erosion (soil loss provoked by water activity), which was reclassified into three groups alluding the level of threat on potential subsurface archaeological contexts, as follows:(1) areas presenting soil loss from 0 until 5 t/h per year, which are characterised as low threat areas;(2) areas presenting soil loss from 5 until 10 t/h per year, which are characterised as moderated threat; and (3) areas presenting soil loss beyond 10 t/h per year, which are considered as high-risk areas. The second study's dataset refers to the capacity of soils to preserve specific archaeological materials, classified in four categories based on the properties of the archaeological material (bones, teeth, and shells (bones); organic materials (organics); metals (Cu, bronze, and Fe) (metals); and stratigraphic evidence (strati). Both datasets were imported into a Geographical Information System (GIS) for further synthesis and analysis, while the average threat of soil loss per year was evaluated in a country level (nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) level 0). The overall results show that approximately 10% of European soils that potentially preserve archaeological remains are in high threat due to soil loss, while similar patterns-on a European level-are found for areas characterised with moderate to high risk from the soil loss. This study is the first attempt to present a proxy map for subsurface cultural material under threat due to soil loss, covering the entire European continent.

Remote Sensing Studies on Monitoring Natural Hazards Over Cultural Heritage Sites in Cyprus

“…Soil erosion by water is a natural phenomenon that involves the detachment of soil material rainfall and the flow traction (Erosion by Water, 2021). Models regarding (2015); for more related literature, see Agapiou et al (2020a). These studies have used various models to better estimate and predict soil loss (Quinton, 2011).…”

“…Therefore, evaluating the risk of subsurface archaeological remains from soil erosion over large areas is peculiarly difficult. In a recent article, Agapiou et al (2020a) used Kibblewhite et al (2015) datasets to develop a sub-surface archaeological proxy map at a European level. In their work, Kibblewhite et al (2015) have categorised European soil according to how the various archaeological materials can be affected by the pertinent soil type, following a standard taxonomic classification.…”

Earth Observation Contribution to Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Management: Case Study of Eastern Mediterranean Open Air Archaeological Monuments and Sites

“…Soil erosion data were generated using empirical soil loss models (revised universal soil loss equation-RUSLE), with inputs from satellite images [31]. The specific European atlas of soil loss was recently used by [32] to visualize and quantify soil loss in potential subsurface remains. Examples from the literature regarding the identification of other risks based on satellite image analysis beyond soil erosion can be found in [28,30,33,34].…”

Advanced non-destructive techniques for the diagnosis of historic buildings: The Loka-Hteik-Pan temple in Bagan

“…Global cultural heritage sites are not only being threatened by anthropic (e.g., Aykan, 2018) but also by climate change effects (e.g., Fatorić and Seekamp, 2017). At an international level, constant efforts are made to detect (Tapete and Cigna, 2019), monitor (Agapiou et al, 2020), and assess (Nicu, 2016) mass wasting processes for cultural heritage management. Other efforts are aimed towards the improvement of adaptation measures (Guzman et al, 2020), sustainable development (Guo et al, 2019) and valorisation (Lorusso et al, 2018) of cultural heritage resources.…”