GPR

Ground Penetrating Radar

• Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR) is a tool
archaeologists will
use more and more
for excavations in
the 21st century.
GPR allows
archaeologists to
survey
archaeological sites
in a short amount of
time with precision
and without digging.
 Basic Principles

• Uses radio waves to create picture of

underground before excavation
• Picture is used to locate any variations
in the sub-surfaces
 Basic Mechanism

• Electrode magnetic waves emitted into

the ground and time measured for wave
to be reflected and received
• When wave hits areas of change in soil,
it is hit back to receiver antenna
• Changes in soil can include objects
buried underneath the surface
• Greater surface
difference =
Stronger signal
• Strong signal has
large amplitude
• Weak signal has
small amplitude
• Amplitude
wavelength and time
are used to create
image of what is
underground
 RDP
Relative Dielectric Permitivity
• “RDP is ability of a
material to store and
allow passage of
electromagnetic
energy when a field is
imposed upon it.”
• RDP of a substance =
electrical permitivity /
vacuum
 C
K 
V
K = RDP
C = Speed of
light
V = Velocity of
radar energy
 GPR Depth Determination
D = (5.9t)/sqrt of (Er)
Dielectric constants for common materials
D = depth of target (in)
Air 1
t = wave travel time
Pure water 81
(nanosec)
Fresh water (ice) 4
5.9 = a constant
incorporating speed of light Granite (dry) 5
and unit conversions Clay (saturated) 8-12
Er = dielectric constant of Sand (dry) 4-6
subsurface material Sand (saturated) 30
 Example
How deep below the surface is an
object that is detected at 46 ns in dry
sand (Er = 4)?
Answer:
D = (5.9 x 46) / sqrt (4)
D = 135.7 in
Therefore the object is about 11 ft underground
Equipment
• Consists of:
1. control unit
2. display unit
3. transmitting and receiving unit
 Case Studies

• Cave of Letters
• Bethesaida, Israel
• Forum Novum
 Cave of Letters

• Site located in Nahal, Hever (a canyon

by the Dead Sea)
• GPR was used to map possible
excavation sites in the Cave of Letters
 Artifacts Found

• Coins
• Clothes
• Letters mentioning Jewish leader Bar-
Kokhba who had fought against the
Romans around the middle first century
 Bethesaida, Israel

• Located in Northern Israel near the sea

of Galilee
• Was an active fishing community 2000
years ago
• Site where Jesus healed a blind man
and walked on water
 Overview Movie

• http://www.joeinfo.com/gpr/overview.MOV
 Bethsaida Excavation
• GPR has tested land for cave locations
• Artifacts found:
1. coins (dated as far back as 1st and 2nd Century)
2. child’s sandal
3. fabric
4. pottery
5. human bones and remains
 Antenna Movie

• http://www.joeinfo.com/gpr/antenna.MOV
• Recently, Dr. Harry Jol, professor of
geography at the University of
Wisconsin - Eau Claire, used GPR to
map an area by the city gates of
Bethsaida
 Vescovio, Italy

• Romaneque church of Santa Maria

• Remains of marketplace, living
quarters, storage areas, hallways and
door entrances reconstructed visually
 Forum Novum
• Remains of marketplace, living
quarters, storage areas, hallways and
door entrances reconstructed visually
• Believed to be Roman marketplace
which initially began construction in
the 1st century BC and flourished
through the 4th century AD as the
Roman town of the Forum Novum
 Excavation
• British School of Archaeology in Rome have
conducted excavation sites
• Sites include:
1. an amphitheatre
2. a bath complex
3. the villa
4. a tomb complex
5. crypts from the 8th to 9th centuries located
behind the church
GPR reading from Forum Novum
 Wrap up…

• GPR usage has become

more wide-spread

• Now used in
construction

• Average person can

now purchase GPR
equipment