Detection of Looting Activities at Archaeological Sites in Iraq using Ikonos Imagery

TL;DRAbstract

Uruk-Warka, situated c. 300 km south of Baghdad, is one of the oldest metropolises of the ancient world. It was inhabited from around 4000 BC to c. 400 AD and is known as the city where writing was invented, where the oldest known epic, the Epic of Gilgamesh, plays, and where early state formation and administration were developed.
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\nExcavations by German missions, today based at the German Archaeological Institute, started in 1912. They are still on-going, but with interruptions since 2003. Up to date only 5% of the city could be uncovered. Today the city is endangered by illegal digging and destruction by looting, as are many other sites in southern Iraq. As long as the security situation in Iraq remains difficult, it is not possible to study archaeological sites in southern Iraq on the ground.
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\nTherefore, the German Foreign Office funded a project to check the feasibility of using high resolution satellite IKONOS imagery to detect illegal digging. In addition,

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