Geophysical prospection of archaeological sites for the recovery of cultural heritage around Yachay Tech University, Imbabura, Ecuador
Ecuador is one of the South American countries with a rich history of pre-Hispanic cultures. To the northwest of Ecuador in the province of Imbabura is the canton of San Miguel de Urcuquí where the city of Knowledge Yachay is built. In the same area settled civilizations in different periods of hist...
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| Format: | bachelorThesis |
| Jezik: | eng |
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2020
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| Online dostop: | http://repositorio.yachaytech.edu.ec/handle/123456789/227 |
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Označite | Izvleček: | Ecuador is one of the South American countries with a rich history of pre-Hispanic cultures. To the northwest of Ecuador in the province of Imbabura is the canton of San Miguel de Urcuquí where the city of Knowledge Yachay is built. In the same area settled civilizations in different periods of history, for this reason the area has a great concentration of archaeological remains, these can be tombs, ceramics or funeral remains. The objective of the study is to use geophysical methods to identify areas with archaeological potential for excavations. It is important to improve the methods of locating archeological remains in this area in order to recover and preserve all possible archaeological remains that can be found, since these are directly related to the identity and cultural heritage of the country and Ecuadorians. In addition, we wanted to identify which non-invasive geophysical methods are the best detecting archaeological remains in this area dominated by volcanic deposits and ashes. For the analyses we used three geophysical methods: ERT (Electrical Resistivity Tomography), GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), and magnetometry in addition to drone photography. Combining the ERT and GPR results allowed us to identify potential locations of tombs in one area and thereby define areas of archaeological interest. In general, GPR was capable of distinguishing stratigraphic layers better than resistivity due to the differing physical properties behind the methods. However, resistivity models and GPR radargrams showed strikingly similar features in both shape and location of possible buried tombs. With the help of stratigraphic analysis in the area where tombs were previously extracted by archaeologists, possible signatures of buried tombs were identified in the geophysical results. The magnetometry results also revealed interesting anomalies in some areas, worth excavating. However, in other areas the results were inconclusive when compared to independent information, highlighting the need for further studies in these locations. |
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