Top down: New satellite data and ground-truth data as base for a reconstruction of ancient caravan routes. Examples from the Western Desert of Egypt

Abstract

Thanks to new satellite data, it is possible to examine deserts area-wide for linear structures. Additionally, digital elevation models can be use to evaluate the geomorphological situation. In conjunction with historical sources and ground-truth data, these data allow us, for the first time, to reconstruct the position of the caravan routes with reasonable accuracy, here exemplified for the extremely arid Western Desert of Egypt. On the central Egyyptian Limestone Plateau where stony ground (hamada, serir) prevails, most of the routes can be precisely seen from space. Their special natural preservation conditions are also described in this chapter.
In contrast, surfaces with thick sandy layers, with a few exceptions, do not allow a localization of routes in the used satellite image.

Due to the recent demographic development and the growth of desert tourism, the old caravan routes are being increasingly destroyed together with important archaeological finds. This gives good reason for further satellite based analyses in combination with geoarchaeological field investigations.

• darb el-tawil
• digital elevation model
• egypt
• geomorphology
• landscape
• path
• satellite imagery
• track

Resources

• Bubenzer_Bolten2013.pdf

Bibliography

Bubenzer, O., Bolten, A. (2013) Top down: New satellite data and ground-truth data as base for a reconstruction of ancient caravan routes. Examples from the Western Desert of Egypt. Africa Praehistorica 27: 61-75.