Landscape archaeology and aerial photography in the Central Ionian Islands

Thesis

This thesis presents a contribution to the study of settlement patterns on a regional scale in the Central Ionian archipelago, focussing on the input of remote sensing. For the first time, information from historical aerial photography is exploited and the potential of remote sensing for the study of the region explored. Chapter 2 focusses on the interpretation of small scale features, which constitute the vast majority of the data retrieved from the interpretation of aerial imagery, providing possible interpretations in the absence of ground truthing. Chapters 3 and 4 focus instead on large scale interventions, often invisible on the ground. Both the investigation of the extension of the Early Hellenistic polis of Krane on Kephallonia (chapter 3), and the study of the extent of the centuriation associated to the Roman foundation of Nikopolis in Epirus (chapter 4) benefitted from the contribution of remote sensing, and in particular of archival material. These large scale developments are analysed in the framework of regional settlement patterns. Chapters 3 and 4 also explore the potential of aerial photography to redress the imbalance in the archaeological record of the region, which still reflects past attention to the search for Homeric topoi, resulting in a relative abundance of data of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, showing the strategic importance of remote sensing for the study of the Classical and post-Classical landscape, given its tendency to display more superficial layers.

Finally, conclusions are drawn on the importance of aerial imagery for the study of the landscape archaeology of the region and possible future research developments are presented. The conclusions deal also with another case study, originally planned to be included in this thesis, whose completion was made impossible by the Covid 19 pandemic. Analysis of aerial photographic coverage for the area of Fiskardo revealed a number of interesting features on the northern peninsula. A small-scale survey of the peninsula was foreseen for the summer of 2020, to map in detail any structure visible on the ground, while picking up artefacts according to a survey grid.

Authors: Milani, GPCG

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-zopoa1rxr
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Greek archaeology; landscape archaeology; Ionian Islands; geospatial big data; GIS; aerial archaeology
• Subjects: Classical antiquities; Ionian Sea Earthquake, Greece, 1953; Geodatabases; Historical geographic information systems; Big data