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Israel has embarked on a challenge to map archeological sites using underground remote sensing technology to reduce the costs and resources used in extensive excavations.
For this initiative, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Israel Antiquities Authority called on entrepreneurs and companies specializing in remote sensing technologies to submit innovative and constructive solutions for the first underground mapping before excavation.
It announced on Monday that NIS 150,000 ($43,000) will be allocated to cover the costs of three remote sensing technologies. These technologies are preferred to demonstrate customized solutions for finding and identifying underground antiquities without the use of shovels.
“Israel is the first country in the world to launch such an initiative,” said IAA Director Eli Escocido. “Archaeologists in Israel and around the world use remote sensing technology all the time, but this is the first time that a country has included remote sensing as a standard tool in the archaeologist’s toolbox and created a technology that is tailored to specific field needs.”
The IAA seeks non-technologically intrusive solutions for archaeological projects to avoid excavating large excavation sites and to cut costs, time and resources, as well as reduce the risk of environmental damage.
This initiative is an attempt by the Israeli government and the IAA to deal with the increasing number of construction and development plans in archaeological sites throughout the country. There are about 5,000 projects with about 300 salvage excavations per year.
Undated photo of an excavation at the site of Not Ya’akov at Gesher near the Jordan River in northern Israel. (Courtesy/Tel Aviv University)
Historically, Israel’s expertise in sensor technology has its origins in military applications for defense needs, such as smart sensors around borders and fences and on tanks, or for the Israeli Air Force, which uses artificial intelligence and algorithms to make sense of the data. Companies such as Elbit Systems, Raphael Advanced Defense Systems and Seraphim Optonics are at the forefront of this field.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in civil industry to deploy sensor technology in areas such as medical diagnostics and urban infrastructure using image processing and algorithms.
“One of the main problems in archaeological excavations is to identify the location of the remains in the ground, which allows to determine the boundaries of the areas where the excavation will be carried out,” said IAA chief scientist Prof. Gideon Avni.
Avni admits that in the past 20 years, many attempts have been made to locate archaeological remains using remote sensing technologies, but so far they have not been able to come up with a viable solution for different types of soil, rocks and topography.
“When the defense establishment was faced with the challenge of finding Hamas, these methods were very fast and perfect in Israel. [crossborder] Underground tunnels,” said Avni.
Tech companies interested in participating in the challenge have until February 12 to submit their sensor tech solutions. After that, eight companies will be selected to present their selections before a committee that will select the three technologies selected for demonstration in March 2023.
“Innovation in archeology is essential to preserve our history while maintaining efficiency and speed in development and construction,” said Hila Hadad Khmelnyk, director general of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
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