LiDAR scans are revolutionizing archaeology, but are we losing the hands-on thrill of digging?

Seriously, every new find seems to come from a drone or satellite now. I get that it's efficient, but where's the grit? Remember when archaeologists actually got dirty in the field? Now it's all data points and 3D models, which is cool, but feels detached. Imo, we need a balance or the next gen will just be desk jockeys.

4 comments

4 Comments

wren_palmer451mo ago

Forget point clouds, I'd rather have actual dirt under my nails lol

quinnr581mo ago

Totally, and that balance is already tipping way too far towards pure data analysis. The real risk is making fieldwork seem like a quaint, optional precursor to the "real work" on a computer. We could end up with a generation that knows how to process a point cloud but wouldn't recognize a stratigraphic layer if they fell into it, lol.

hernandez.elizabeth1mo ago

@quinnr58, I'd fall into that layer and blame the data.

laurag281mo ago

Remember hearing about a GIS analyst who kept referring to soil layers as "sub-directories," poor guy was in way over his head.