Geophysics in Archaeology. Finally, it works
An open lecture will be held at the National museum of Iceland lecture hall by dr. Knut Paasche, researcher at NIKU in Norway, Thursday Nov 23, 16–17.
In his lecture, Knut will describe his long experience of using geophysical equipment, such as geo-radar, in archaeological research. Examples will be given on the research he has carried out in Norway by using geo-radars, e.g. the international Project Ibi-ArchPro. The use of earthenware for archaeological research began in 1980. The technology behind it has evolved drastically since then and it can be fairly stated that archaeologists can now for the first time look under the ground without digging. Nowadays, the results of such measurements are not only clearer, but it is also possible to measure much larger areas than ever before.
The lecture will be given in English.
About the lecturer:
Knut Paasche
Researcher and head of department of Digital Documentation, Cultural Heritage and Landscape at The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU).
Dr Philos. Knut Paasche is an archaeologist and researcher; Paasche has worked as an archaeologist for more than 25 years, four of these as county archaeologist in Buskerud County. He has led many archaeological excavation- and registration-projects all around Norway. He has archaeological experience of all periods from the Stone Age, through the medieval period and up to modern times. His specialities are primarily the Viking period and the Middle Ages with a main focus surveying heavily stratified cultural heritage sites and the excavation of medieval towns. In addition, he spent four years working on ship archaeology and deputized as collections manager at The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Later, Paasche, in addition to creating and proposing a new reconstruction of the Tune ship, led a research project on a new documentation and reconstruction of the Oseberg ship.
His current research focus is primarily on methodological approaches to archaeology and includes new opportunities and technical innovations for improved field documentation: satellite recording, electronic scanning and geophysical methods. Paasche is furthermore head of the Norwegian part of the "Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological prospection and Virtual Archaeology", and several projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council. Paasche holds a Master degree in Nordic Archaeology with focus on the Middle Ages. In his doctoral thesis, he wrote about the documentation and reconstruction of archaeological objects, using a reconstruction of the Tune ship as an example.