Mapping endangered cultural soilscapes in post-conflict regions through Big Earth Observation Data, artificial intelligence and geoarchaeological signatures

Description du projet

Une technologie de pointe pour cartographier les sols archéologiques en péril

La guerre civile libanaise a profondément transformé les paysages agronomiques traditionnels de la vallée de la Bekaa. Par conséquent, plusieurs éléments archéologiques et paysagers fragiles et moins visibles n’ont pas été cartographiés. Le projet SIGNATURE du programme Actions Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) étudiera les dynamiques de peuplement et d’utilisation des sols à long terme qui ont transformé les paysages culturels de la vallée de la Bekaa au Liban et les plaines fertiles entre les rivières Litani et Orontes. Le projet combinera les données d’observation de la Terre et les signatures géoarchéologiques dans des flux de travail informatiques afin de cartographier et de prédire avec précision l’emplacement des sols et des formes de terrain anthropiques, de surveiller les tendances historiques et actuelles de l’utilisation des sols et d’identifier les transformations aiguës du paysage qui mettent en danger la préservation des biens archéologiques et patrimoniaux vulnérables.

Objectif

SIGNATURE aims to investigate the long-term settlement and land use dynamics that shaped the cultural soilscapes of the Levant, with a particular emphasis on revealing new archaeological sites that have been obscured by recent agricultural encroachment and abrupt land disturbances. The study area encompasses the endangered archaeological landscapes of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and its adjacent fertile plains between the Litani and Orontes rivers. As an aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War and the long-lasting conflict spillovers that followed, the traditional agronomic landscapes of the Bekaa were severely transformed by agricultural autarky. The scarce initiatives that are set in place to map vulnerable heritage primarily focus on well-known, monumental sites such as the UNESCO complex of Baalbek. Other fragile and less visible archaeological and landscape features such as eroded earthen mounds or tells are largely under-represented.
SIGNATURE combines Big Earth Observation Data and geoarchaeological signatures in computational workflows to 1) accurately map and predict the location of anthropogenic soils and landforms, 2) monitor historical and present-day land use trends, and 3) identify acute landscape transformations affecting the preservation of vulnerable archaeological and heritage assets. A key aspect of the project methodology is the integration of multi-source and multi-temporal satellite data in artificial intelligence procedures, coupled with ground and high-resolution soil proxies in advanced geostatistical workflows. SIGNATURE will produce and share a set of comparable data and reproducible tools for the study and management of endangered cultural landscapes, likely to be adapted and implemented by scholars and Cultural Heritage practitioners working in conflict and post-conflict regions.