Ground-Penetrating Radar For Urban Archaeological Mapping

Urban settings, which are one of the most challenging areas for archaeological near-surface geophysical mapping, can benefit from the use of ground-penetrating radar. The GPR method has the ability to focus energy downward and therefore can potentially map buried features within the clutter of pipes, trenches and other typical urban materials. In addition, GPR can map buried stratigraphy in three-dimensions, which allows stratigraphic analysis of buried deposits. When amplitude slice-maps are produced in various horizontal levels in the ground they can show changes in land usage by building period, making GPR maps analogous to excavation levels over many depths used in traditional archaeological excavations.