113 VIII/1/2017 INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY homepage: http://www.iansa.eu Some Examples of Good Practice in LiDAR Prospection in Preventive Archaeology Milan Horňák a* , Ján Zachar a a VIA MAGNA, s. r. o. Nábrežná 2, 03861 Vrútky, Slovakia 1. Introduction Unlike more generally in Europe, where LiDAR has been applied in many archaeological projects over recent years (e.g. Boinger, Hesse 2011; Challis et al. 2011; Devereux et al. 2008; Doneus, Briese 2006; 2011; Doneus et al. 2008; Hesse 2010; Gojda, John 2013; Opitz, Cowley 2013; Štular et al. 2012; Trier, Pilo 2002 etc.), the potential of airborne laser scanning has been much neglected within Slovakian archaeology over the same period. Apart from some very rare articles on this topic (Ruttkay 2015; Holubec et al. 2016), no complex systematic studies, or even local particular archaeological projects, have been carried out (M. Ruttkay’s study contains just brief visual description of LiDAR data on particular hillforts in Nitra region. No information on ground points iltering algorithm and DEM creation parameters is provided. Furthermore, besides basic analytical hillshading, no further visualisation methods are applied. Graphic vector interpretation is also missing. The study of M. Holubec et al. deals with LiDAR documentation of the Iron Age hillfort Molpír in southwest Slovakia. It focuses mainly upon the possibilities of morphometric analysis by the detection of small anthropomorphic features. For this purpose algorithms aimed at visual augmentation of concave and convex surface shapes were tested). This is also partly due to the fact that in Slovakia, unlike some European countries, no public LiDAR data are available – either in point-cloud format or as DEM products. Although in many European countries LiDAR data are also not publicly available, in most cases they are at least partly accessible commercially. Furthermore, a signiicant part of the territory has not been covered with LiDAR survey at all. One of the aims of this article is to present particular case studies of LiDAR application on various types of archaeological sites in the Turiec region, Slovakia (Figure 1), with the intention to examine the potential of LiDAR in archaeological cultural heritage protection and encourage further development of LiDAR studies. 2. Methods The LiDAR data acquisition of individual test areas were performed at the end of March 2016. For the scanner, a Leica ALS70-CM mounted on the light airplane Cessna 402 Volume VIII ● Issue 2/2017 ● Pages 113–124 *Corresponding author. E-mail: hornak.milan@gmail.com ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 28 th February 2017 Accepted: 11 th September 2017 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.24916/iansa.2017.2.1 Key words: LiDAR hillshade topographic openness sky view factor hillfort classiication preventive archaeology ABSTRACT The prime objective of this article is to demonstrate the possibilities of LiDAR mapping in the ield of preventive archaeology. The article focuses upon detailed descriptions of case studies that present particular examples of LiDAR application possibilities, as well as its limitations. The inal remarks sum up an appropriate procedure for LiDAR prospection when applied to preventive archaeology and cultural heritage.