Laser-mapping LiDAR revolutionizes archaeology

LiDAR, short for "light detection and ranging," is a remote sensing innovation. Analogous to radar, a LiDAR array fires light at a target, often via laser. The light can be visible spectrum, ultraviolet, or nearly-infrared. The time it takes for the light to reflect back to the scanner is measured, with each measurement registered as a data point. In archaeology, the data in doing so gathered are used to plot differences in elevation and shape; from this data cloud, a picture is built up of the observed area.

"LiDAR innovation map not only ancient architecture," Fisher wrote, "nevertheless the underlying landscape in a more cost-effective manner than would a traditional archaeological survey."

What specifically does this revolution consist of?

What specifically does this revolution consist of? Speed. Cost. Complexity. LiDAR and its related innovation have compressed information gathering in much the same way that computing itself increased the speed of number-crunching. A landscape, with its architectural and agricultural artifacts, can be mapped in extraordinary detail in a fraction of the time it used to take, and for a much-reduced price. This enables archaeologists to model, reason, and theorize, to spend more of their time using the data or rather than gathering it.