Display of archaeological magnetic data

Abstract

Magnetic data from archaeological sites have traditionally been displayed by contour, isometric, and dot‐density plotting, or by simulated gray‐scale techniques using symbol overprinting. These methods do not show fine linear structures in the data which are of great interest to archaeologists. If true gray‐scale methods using a modern video display, followed by film recording for hard copy are employed, image processing techniques can be applied to enhance the geometric structures of archaeological interest. Interpolation techniques for enlarging data to full screen size, along with compression methods to keep data within gray‐scale capabilities, are needed. Such techniques would introduce minimum distortion and allow faint details to be seen in the vicinity of strong anomalies. Postprocessing methods based on rapid image spatial filtering and enhancement algorithms could then be applied in an interactive environment.