Potential and Limitations of the Archaeo-Geophysical Techniques

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the capabilities and limitations of archaeo-geophysical methods, especially GPR, through case studies, highlighting Bulgaria's unique development of new geophysical survey techniques for archaeology.

Contribution

It presents the first comprehensive assessment of archaeo-geophysical techniques in Bulgaria, emphasizing GPR's effectiveness and the laboratory's innovations in developing new survey equipment.

Findings

GPR is identified as the most powerful technique for archaeology.

The laboratory develops unique geophysical tools tailored for archaeological site surveys.

Case studies demonstrate both the potential and limitations of current methods.

Abstract

This work demonstrates the potential and the limitations of archaeo-geophysical techniques available at the Archaeological Geophysics Laboratory of the Department of Physics at the University of Sofia with various case studies in natural and artificial environment. Special attention is focused on GPR which is the most powerful archaeogeophysical technique This laboratory is the only one in Bulgaria, which develops new geophysical techniques and equipment for survey of archaeological sites and their dating.