ARCHAEOLOGY WITHOUT DIGGING.

ARCHAEOLOGY WITHOUT DIGGING. This article by Franz Lidz in the July/August Smithsonian describes the archaeological finds near Carnuntum in Austria, a military camp established by Tiberius in A.D. 6. Lidz highlights the use of new archaeological tools, including drone overflights and geo-radar imaging, to produce a detailed virtual reconstruction of the military camp and of a gladiatorial school, including the forum, roads and sewers, shops, baths and other buildings—without excavation. With the new tools, there is no need to dig. The amount of detail that is obtained without breaking the surface is remarkable. You can read inscriptions. You can tell whether the soil under the surface was ever heated (whether there are bricks).