RCAHMS in Iceland

19 March 2010

The role of remote sensing techniques in archaeological heritage management – from historic and modern aerial photographs to satellite imagery and sonar – will be explored in a wide-ranging conference to be held in Iceland from 25 to 27 March.

Organised by RCAHMS aerial survey programme manager Dave Cowley, along with Kristín Huld Sigurðardóttir of the Archaeological Heritage Agency of Iceland, the symposium will explore the value of new technologies set alongside established practice in approaches to large-scale mapping, the monitoring and management of monument conditions, and the creation of reliable monuments records.  Other remote sensing techniques to be considered include multi- and hyper-spectral analysis, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDaR) and geophsyical survey.

RCAHMS Head of Collections Lesley Ferguson will be speaking at the symposium on The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (TARA) as a shared European resource, giving an overview of the content of TARA from an archaeological perspective. The talk will also highlight key discoveries and achievements since the transfer of the archives to RCAHMS in 2008, and explore the possibilities and partnerships which may help open up future access to TARA for discovery and exploration for the archaeological community and beyond.

Introduced by the Icelandic Minister for Culture, the conference brings together expertise from across the spectrum of European cultural heritage managers, archaeological practitioners and academics.

The symposium has been organised through the Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (EAC), a body which helps support the management of archaeological heritage throughout Europe.