GIS based processing of multiple source prospection data in landscape archaeology Silke Boos, Hartmut Müller Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Germany Institute for Spatial Information and Surveying Technology (i3mainz) D-55116 Mainz, Holzstr. 36, Germany E-mail boos@geoinform.fh-mainz.de , mueller@geoinform.fh-mainz.de Sabine Hornung, Patrick Jung Mainz University, Germany Institute for Pre- and Protohistory D-55116 Mainz, Schillerstr. 11,Germany Email: hornusa@uni-mainz.de , patjung@uni-mainz.de Keywords: Airborne Laser Scanning, Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Sub-surface Geomagnetic Prospection, GIS, Digital Elevation Model, Topographical Survey ABSTRACT: In a project dealing with landscape archaeology the Institute for Pre- and Protohistory of Mainz University and the Institute for Spatial Information and Surveying Technology (i3mainz) of the University of Applied Sciences Mainz have been examining the area around the Celtic oppidum “Hunnenring” in the northern Saarland (Germany) since the end of 2006. Its wall is partly preserved up to a height of 10 m, which makes it one of the largest Celtic structures of its kind. Various sources indicate that the low mountain range, which is nowadays situated peripherally, used to be a significant centre with supra-regional importance in Celtic times. Aided by various archaeological prospection methods and the use of methods of applied geoinformatics and surveying technology it is attempted to reconstruct the pre- and protohistoric habitat as detailed as possible. A special focus is made on tracking early use of resources and on the question to what extent local iron and copper-ore deposits affected economic activities of people. However in this project we used a combination of different archaeological prospection techniques and methods of modern 3D-surveying technology to achieve this aim. A conventional method to record anthropogenic characteristics of the relief is surveying with a total station. The recorded terrain points are used for creation and visualization of a Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) in a GIS. By this means very fine characteristics of the relief, like terraces of settlement, old routings and historical mine shafts can be documented. Airborne Laser Scanner Data were used for 3D modelling of the complete investigation area because of their potential to capture a dense cloud of terrain points in high quality, particularly in wooded areas, where good conservation of archaeological structures is indicated. For selected regions a Terrestrial Laser Scanner was used to generate a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of even higher resolution. A conventional archaeological prospection technique is the surveying of single finds. For this purpose a ploughed acre was paced off systematically and the positions of single finds were recorded by using total station and GPS. Particularly for detection of sub-surface metalliferous materials the use of geomagnetic prospection is a very helpful method. Recording and analysis of anomalies of the earth magnetic field yields a method to detect ditches, pits and other filled-in intrusions of the ground, but also high temperature areas e.g. caused by smelting. The surveying of such anomalies was executed by capturing data along a regular pattern in the field. The measuring values were recorded in a dense interval in a decimetre range. The values of anomaly measurement were represented as gray scale values. The results of all measurements were integrated for visualization in a GIS and applied for further analysis. High- resolution DEM, which have been generated using Airborne-Laserscanning (ALS) data, are a core component. The information, that was generated using various methods such as geophysics, surveying of single finds, ALS and excavations, in combination with significant factors such as soil quality, geology, waterlogging, slope and water proximity, can be included well in analysis of settlement history.