Satellite Image Interpretation:
Remote Imaging in El-Markha Plain:
Portion of a Landsat TM Image, El-Markha Plain. (S. Parcak) |
Satellite Imaging |
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| Pharaonic Egypt obtained turquoise and copper indirectly and directly from South Sinai since Predynastic times. Many questions and gaps remain, however, concerning the specific routes, Egypto-Sinaitic cross-cultural interactions, and various aspects of the mines, camps, and material culture assemblages of both the intrusive and indigenous cultures. The combination of satellite image interpretation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and surface survey and excavation, offer a speedier and less costly means by which to identify potential archaeological sites. For example, concerning satellite image interpretation for El-Markha Plain, thresholding is the most promising of three methods ("supervised", "unsupervised" and thresholding classifications) for site identification. This technique entails selecting areas with a positive Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and imposing assigned values to highlight those areas using a specific formula ("if input 1 is greater than -0.05 else null"). | |||
A validification of this premise resulted from surface reconnaissance
trips (2000-2001) to El-Markha Plain, during which the expedition re-located one known New
Kingdom anchorage site (no.346) and detected two new sites (rest points 346a-b with New
Kingdom amphorae sherds) on the periphery of vegetation clusters. These sites occur on
high ground beside wadi beds and at the base of hills bordering El-Markha Plain. Site 346
lay 100 metres from an anchorage (El-Markha Bay), on high ground beside a wadi (protected
from winter floods with direct access to drinking water). The remaining sites lie further
inland (one to two kilometres to the south), benefiting from drinking water obtained from
nearby wadis and morning shade from the eastern hills.
Image of northern part of El-Markha Plain
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A Bedouin orchard (NDVI signature) at Site 1. (Photo: S. Parcak)The 2001 expedition generated a topographic map of the surviving mound (40 by 50 metres) and environs of Site 346 (discovered by Albright in 1948). The surface remains revealed a hearth, grinding stones, pounders, flints, copper slag, crucible fragments, and Nile silt and marl pottery vessels. The application of the aforementioned site location determinants to GIS promises to isolate potential high yield areas for archaeological sites and investigation. Sarah Parcak |
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