Ársfundur og ráðstefna Europae Archaeologae Counsilum um notkun fjarkönnunar og loftmyndatækni við vernd fornleifa.

I would like to welcome all the participants in the EAC Symposium to Iceland. Many of you are here for the first time, while some have come to our country before. I hope we will be warm and generous hosts to you all, and that you will leave Iceland with good memories and a favourable impression of the land and its people. I know that you have a very busy schedule ahead of you for the next two days, but I hope that the field trip on Saturday will give you an opportunity to see some of the country and the work that is being done here in the field of archaeology.

Your organization, the Europae Arechaelolgiae Consilium, is devoted to the managing of Europe‘s archaeological heritage. After thousands of years of human habitation Europe is covered with the remains of former times, some of them more obvious than others, some of them more interesting than others, but all worth consideration and protection, at least until they have been discovered, recorded and a decision has been made on their preservation. This is a tremendous task that you have undertaken.

One of the most pressing tasks for government in our times is to balance the need for preserving our nature and heritage as well as trying to create the best possible conditions for ourselves and future generations. These objectives do not always go hand - in - hand, and a good deal of balancing is needed to meet the needs of preservation on the one hand and social evolution on the other. The development in recent decades of remote sensing for archaeological remains has made this task a great deal easier than before, as it can help us to do research without the damage and cost associated with more traditional excavation. We now appreciate more than ever how destructive excavation, however carefully it is conducted, can be for delicate archaeological sites; we may destroy more than we save – and we simply do not have the time or the financial resources to properly carry out all the excavations that we feel are needed.

The title of this symposium, Remote Sensing for Archaeological Heritage Management in the 21st century, points out that there are a number of methods already available and in development that are revolutionizing traditional archaeological research. The names of these methods would have sounded completely alien to archaeologists 50 years ago: Satellite imagery, aerial photography, 3D surveying, airborne laser scanning, multi/hyper-spectral data, high resolution LiDAR measuring * – to most people this still sounds more like something out of a George Lucas space-age film than the names of the tools modern archaeologists must become familiar with.

Dear guests,
As the topics of this symposium show, the future of archaeological research is already here. You, the professionals, are aware of this, but the general public is not. I hope that this symposium organized by EAC here in Iceland may serve among other things to bridge this gap, and that you may also all learn a little from each other, sharing information, visions and plans for the future benefit of all those interested in the managing of Europe’s Archaeological Heritage in the future.

Thank you.