Italian archaeologists find lost Roman city of Altinum near Venice

The Times ^ | 7/31/2009 | Hannah Devlin

[blam]

Xiongnu

[TXnMA]

Here's a link to another "Altinium" article that we "Rut Nuts" were discussing this evening:

"A Good-for-something Drought"

Apparently it was extreme drought conditions that first made "Altinium" visible on color IR photos...

[blam]

Interesting, thanks.

[stormer]

Excellent. A buddy of mine is advising one of his grad students on fire fuel/moisture regime data using LIDAR. It's pretty interesting; they're even able to tell tree specie density rates in even small stands just based on the reflectivity. Very cool. It's remarkable how obvious something cam become when properly viewed - especially when you can't discern any trace from the ground.

[TXnMA]

"It's remarkable how obvious something cam become when properly viewed - especially when you can't discern any trace from the ground."

Yeah -- or the other way 'round... Take a look at this composite image...

~~~~~~

The way I got started on "chasing old roads" was when I accepted the challenge of locating -- and putting on a modern map -- the "Y" junction where the (1813) "Trammel's Trace" joined the earlier "Spanish Trace".

I had two historical clues:

1) It was on the "Dan'l Barecroft" (actually "Barcroft") Republic of Texas land grant tract (per the little old "headright" sketch at lower right).

2) It was supposedly "about a mile SW of the old Dalton Cemetery".

After I first located the "Barecroft" Tract on a B&W aerial, I spotted Trammel's Trace. (See it going off to the upper right? The historical marker will be placed where the Trace crosses the highway...) Then I downloaded the "IRDOQQ" of the area (which is what you see as the base for the above composite.)

When we went out to "ground truth" the find, we went directly to the UTM (GPS) coordinates of the "Y" that I had derived from the overheads -- "georeferenced" to a modern topographic map. BUT -- when we reached the supposed location of the "Y", we found ourselves in the nastiest, near-impenetrable sweetgum brush thicket you can imagine! We could hardly see the ground -- much less where two faint paths came together...

Then, when we took another look at the color IR image, we had a genuine "DUH!!" moment: See that lighter yellowish "blob" surrounding the "Y"? That's clear evidence of young, deciduous growth. The southern half of that tract had obviously been "clear-cut" for its timber, not re-planted, and allowed to grow up in -- sweetgum brush.

If we had looked at the IR image for vegetation signs as well as for evidence of old trails, we would have known we were heading into a thicket! :-(

So, yes, overhead imagery can provide a lot of useful information -- if you analyze it properly! '-}

[bruinbirdman]

Are you a member of E Clampus Vitus?

yitbos

[TXnMA]

No — as far as I am aware...

[TXnMA]

In fact, at the moment, I don’t even own a red shirt... ‘-)

[TXnMA]

OTOH, at times, Texas Archeological Society (of which I am a 40+ year member) Field School late evening gatherings can approach the same level of wierdness... ‘-}

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks TXnMA!

[colorado tanker]

I wouldn't discount the discovery because they called Attila a German. Probably just a reporter who thinks he knows way more than he does making an assumption without fact checking it. Sorta like our President often does.

Attila did some serious damage in the Veneto.