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Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons

Adam D. Booth, Kasia Szpakowska Orcid Logo, Elena Pischikova, Ken Griffin Orcid Logo

Archaeological Prospection, Volume: 22, Issue: 1, Pages: 33 - 44

Swansea University Authors: Kasia Szpakowska Orcid Logo, Ken Griffin Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/arp.1496

Abstract

Geophysical data acquisitions in most archaeological campaigns aim to image the target structure directly. The presence of a target, however, may be inferred from its interaction with surrounding layers, if its relationship with those layers can be characterized sufficiently. In this paper, we show...

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Published in: Archaeological Prospection
Published: 2014
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa18255
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spelling 2019-06-21T12:03:46.1024176 v2 18255 2014-08-19 Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons 79af40d0177760d56ab90a2742b02a74 0000-0001-9254-9495 Kasia Szpakowska Kasia Szpakowska true false b4be5cb8d2cf6cd9c5709a42bf579fdb 0000-0002-7640-5851 Ken Griffin Ken Griffin true false 2014-08-19 ACLA Geophysical data acquisitions in most archaeological campaigns aim to image the target structure directly. The presence of a target, however, may be inferred from its interaction with surrounding layers, if its relationship with those layers can be characterized sufficiently. In this paper, we show the use of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to detect the subsurface continuation of the Ancient Egyptian tomb of the high-official Karakhamun (Theban Tomb 223) at the South Asasif tomb complex (Luxor, Egypt). Data were acquired using a Sensors & Software pulseEKKO PRO system, equipped with antennae of 500 MHz centre-frequency, on a silty–sandy sediment surface directly over the target structure. A test vertical radar profile (VRP) suggested that the tomb superstructure was buried too deeply beneath sedimentary overburden to be imaged directly: 500MHz energy would propagate for only ~2m before becoming undetectable. Attenuative layers within that overburden were strongly reflective, however, and could be used to provide indirect evidence of any underlying structure. When observed in the GPR grid, these layers showed a discrete zone of deflection, ~0.9 m in amplitude and ~4 m wide, aligned with the long-axis of the tomb. This deflection was attributed either to a collapsed vestibule beneath the survey site, or sediment settling within an unroofed staircase descending from floor- to tomb-level; supporting evidence of this was obtained towards the end of the excavation campaign and in the following year. We highlight the value of such indirect imaging methods as a potential means of improving the capabilities of a given geophysical survey system, in this case allowing the GPR to characterize a target at greater depth than would typically be considered practical. Journal Article Archaeological Prospection 22 1 33 44 ground penetrating radar, archaeology, Ancient Egypt, Egyptology, tomb, calibration, vertical radar profile, Kushites 22 10 2014 2014-10-22 10.1002/arp.1496 The main researchers for this are Kasia Szpakowska and Adam Booth. COLLEGE NANME Classics COLLEGE CODE ACLA Swansea University 2019-06-21T12:03:46.1024176 2014-08-19T15:42:30.6595100 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Classics, Ancient History, Egyptology Adam D. Booth 1 Kasia Szpakowska 0000-0001-9254-9495 2 Elena Pischikova 3 Ken Griffin 0000-0002-7640-5851 4 0018255-07032015145050.pdf Booth__Szpakowska__Tomb__GPR.pdf 2015-03-07T14:50:50.5370000 Output 6649448 application/pdf Version of Record true 2015-03-07T00:00:00.0000000 Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-4.0) true
title Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons
spellingShingle Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons
Kasia Szpakowska
Ken Griffin
title_short Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons
title_full Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons
title_fullStr Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons
title_full_unstemmed Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons
title_sort Structure of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Inferred from Ground-Penetrating Radar Imaging of Deflected Overburden Horizons
author_id_str_mv 79af40d0177760d56ab90a2742b02a74
b4be5cb8d2cf6cd9c5709a42bf579fdb
author_id_fullname_str_mv 79af40d0177760d56ab90a2742b02a74_***_Kasia Szpakowska
b4be5cb8d2cf6cd9c5709a42bf579fdb_***_Ken Griffin
author Kasia Szpakowska
Ken Griffin
author2 Adam D. Booth
Kasia Szpakowska
Elena Pischikova
Ken Griffin
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publishDate 2014
institution Swansea University
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department_str School of Culture and Communication - Classics, Ancient History, Egyptology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Classics, Ancient History, Egyptology
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description Geophysical data acquisitions in most archaeological campaigns aim to image the target structure directly. The presence of a target, however, may be inferred from its interaction with surrounding layers, if its relationship with those layers can be characterized sufficiently. In this paper, we show the use of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to detect the subsurface continuation of the Ancient Egyptian tomb of the high-official Karakhamun (Theban Tomb 223) at the South Asasif tomb complex (Luxor, Egypt). Data were acquired using a Sensors & Software pulseEKKO PRO system, equipped with antennae of 500 MHz centre-frequency, on a silty–sandy sediment surface directly over the target structure. A test vertical radar profile (VRP) suggested that the tomb superstructure was buried too deeply beneath sedimentary overburden to be imaged directly: 500MHz energy would propagate for only ~2m before becoming undetectable. Attenuative layers within that overburden were strongly reflective, however, and could be used to provide indirect evidence of any underlying structure. When observed in the GPR grid, these layers showed a discrete zone of deflection, ~0.9 m in amplitude and ~4 m wide, aligned with the long-axis of the tomb. This deflection was attributed either to a collapsed vestibule beneath the survey site, or sediment settling within an unroofed staircase descending from floor- to tomb-level; supporting evidence of this was obtained towards the end of the excavation campaign and in the following year. We highlight the value of such indirect imaging methods as a potential means of improving the capabilities of a given geophysical survey system, in this case allowing the GPR to characterize a target at greater depth than would typically be considered practical.
published_date 2014-10-22T03:21:22Z
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