AARG 2023 Conference Report

Abstract

After a hiatus of three years, the first in-person Aerial Archaeology Reserach Group conference of the decade took place in Zagreb, Croatia, in September 2023. Highlights of the two days of presentations and the field trip to the Krapina Neanderthal museum are reported here.

Full text

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AARG 2023 Conference Report
AARGnews 67: October 2023
Marn J.F. Fowler 1
1 danebury216@hotmail.co.uk
© The author(s). AARGnews is published by
the Aerial Archaeology Research Group.
This is an open access arcle
under the terms of the Crea-
ve Commons , Aribuon Licence, which
permits use and distribuon in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
In September 2023, the first in-person
AARG conference of the decade took
place in Zagreb, Croatia, marking a
welcome return after a three-year hia-
tus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event, which also celebrated
AARG’s 40th anniversary, was organ-
ised by Sara Popović and saw 44 dele-
gates from 15 countries in attendance.
A total of 25 presentations were given
along with 6 posters. Abstracts can be
found on the AARG website2 and, for
the first time, many of the talks were
professionally recorded (thanks to
Doug Rocks-Macqueen at Open Past)
and will be made available for mem-
bers on our new website in due course.
Welcome Reception The conference
was inaugurated with an evening Wel-
come Reception at the Archaeological
Museum on 20th September 2023.
This enabled attendees to reconnect
with old friends and meet new ones in
person, a refreshing change from the
virtual interactions on Zoom. Although
I couldn’t attend due to our flight
schedules, I heard that the Croatian
‘small eats’ served outdoors amidst
museum artefacts were quite a hit,
despite frequent queries about what
they were!
After a hiatus of three years, the first in-person AARG conference of the decade
took place in Zagreb, Croatia, in September 2023. Highlights of the two days of
presentations and the field trip to the Krapina Neanderthal museum are reported
here.
Conference Day 1 The conference
officially commenced the next day at
the Croatian Journalists’ Association
with the AARG Annual General Meet-
ing, This saw the departure of several
committee members: Steve Davis (Vice
-Chair), Lidka Żuk (Honorary Secre-
tary), Agnes Schneider (Webmaster),
along with Rog Palmer, who has
served as AARGnews Editor for 33
years. Łukasz Banaszek and Susan
Curran were unanimously elected as
the new Chair and Honorary Secre-
tary, respectively, while Sara Popović
(outgoing Chair) transitioned into the
role of Vice-Chair.
Following the AGM, the conference
delved into its first session: Past – Pre-
sent – Future? The Past featured talks
by Rog Palmer and Chris Musson via
video link, and Cathy Stoertz in per-
2 hps://aargonline.com/wp/
Conference poster designed by Andrea
Devlahović and based on a photograph by
Sara Popović.
Welcome Recepon at the Archaeological Museum, Zagreb. Photo: Val Ward.

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AARGnews 67: October 2023
The capacious conference venue at the Croaan Journalists’ Associaon. Photo: Andrea Devlahović.
son, on the early days and the for-
mation of AARG in 1983.
The transition between past and pre-
sent was explored through papers that
covered Roman aerial archaeology in
Romania, the Hill of Tara, and 2D
mapping and 3D modelling of crop-
marked sites in the Czech Republic.
After lunch, the session resumed with
an invited talk on a recent EAC /
AARG survey profiling the present
state of the profession, a personal per-
spective on neurodiversity in aerial
archaeology, and an overview of
Changing Chalk - a collaboration be-
tween 10 organisations in Southern
England aimed at harmonising nature,
people, and heritage. The day wrapped
up with a Local Session featuring pa-
pers on the interpretation of a dry
stone walled landscape on Cres Island
(Croatia) and a study of communica-
tion infrastructures and the Roman
cadastral system in Istria.
Day 2 of the Conference The day
commenced with a session titled
Around the world in one session. This
comprised presentations that spanned
a variety of topics and geographical
locations. Papers included a study on
drone ortho photogrammetry and
lidar in the late 18th century Sierra
Morena region of Andalusia and an
examination of shell middens and
Mesolithic house pits in the coastal
environments of Tierra del Fuego,
Argentina, and Northern Norway.
Changes in the spatial organisation
of East Siberian villages were pre-
sented, along with a look into the
aerial archaeology of Hallstatt ne-
cropolises in Hungary.
The session continued with discus-
sions on Iron Age ‘Castros’ in North
West Iberia, the use of HEXAGON
satellite photographs for settlement
research at the Late-Antique and Ear-
ly-Islamic settlement of al-Hira, Iraq,
and studies of the recent past in Iraqi
Kurdistan and ancient landscapes in
North West Argentina.
Following lunch, the session conclud-
ed with two presentations. One ex-
plored the World War II landscape of
the Hydrierwerke Politz AF in Poland
and the other delved into the industri-
al garden town of Scunthorpe, Eng-
land.
During the coffee breaks, we had the
chance to engage with authors about
their poster presentations, which in-
cluded a range of topics such as rural
Roman settlements in South-East
Romania, the use of Sentinel-2 satel-
lite imagery, and the landscape of
charcoal and holloways in the Czech
Republic, among others.
The day concluded with a Technical
Session that featured a variety of
presentations. One paper delved into
a bio-economic study of tar production
in Norway. Three other papers ex-
plored the use of machine learning in
archaeology, including its application
in identifying tumuli on lidar DEMs, a
Memento of Zagreb included in the confer-
ence pack. Photo: the author.

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AARGnews 67: October 2023
tool for automatic detection of archaeo-
logical features, and a remote sensing
and deep learning approach to study-
ing the Pre-Hispanic landscape in the
Chilean Andes.
The AARG 2023 Early Career Award
was presented to Simon Seyfried for
his innovative work on statistical visu-
alisations of Sentinel-2 satellite image-
ry for crop mark prediction. Separate-
ly, Cathy Stoertz was given a present
in recognition of her ‘long service and
good conduct’ as the only member who
had attended all of AARG’s meetings
and conferences over the years.
The formal part of the conference
ended with tokens of appreciation,
including ’AARG stars’ and cards
signed by the conference attendees,
being presented to the outgoing com-
mittee members in recognition of
their contributions to the group. Sara
Popović received an extra special gift
for her role in organising the event.
An engraved glass tankard and home-
brew vouchers were delivered to Rog
at his home by courier the same day,
The day wrapped up with a delightful
Conference Dinner at Restaurant
Vinodol in Zagreb.
Field trip Our field trip on the third
day to the Krapina Neanderthal Mu-
seum3 was guided by Davorka Ra-
dovčić who is the curator of the
Krapina Neandertal Collection at the
Croatian Natural History Museum in
Zagreb and a high-school friend of
Sara. Located near the site of the rock
shelter at Hušnjakovo brdo where the
greatest number of Neanderthal indi-
viduals have been found in one place,
the museum provides an insight into
their lives and a captivating voyage
through the depths of deep time.
Davorka’s insightful tour was nothing
short of excellent and we were hon-
3 hps://mkn.mhz.hr/en/
A somewhat surprised Simon Seyfried receiving his AARG 2023 Early Career Award from
Sara Popović and Rebecca Benne. Photo: the author.
Conference Dinner at Restaurant Vinodol. Photos: the author.
‘AARG star’ presented to the outgoing
members of the commiee in recognion
of their service to the group. Photo: Re-
becca Benne.

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AARGnews 67: October 2023
End of conference group photograph. Photo: Doug Rocks-Macqueen .
oured to benefit from her depth of
knowledge and experience of her sub-
ject.
After the enlightening tour, we enjoyed
a delightful meal at a nearby restau-
rant which included cherry strudel and
cheese and pumpkin štrukle. This
marked the end of an incredible confer-
ence that was both highly successful
and thoroughly enjoyable.
Sadly, our Uber was scheduled for
0600 the following day, so we didn’t
really get the opportunity to explore
Zagreb (and further sample its won-
Tableau at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum showing everyday life at the Hušnjakovo brdo
rock shelter 125,000 years ago. Photo: the author.
Davorka Radovčić, our excellent guide for
the eld trip. Photo: the author.
derful ice cream). Nevertheless, I
threw a coin into the Manduševac
fountain in Jelačić Square, so hope-
fully I will return at some point in
the future.
Acknowledgement My heartfelt
appreciation goes to Rebecca Bennett
for her invaluable assistance as my
‘minder’ during my trip to Zagreb.
Because of my failing sight, she kind-
ly kept an eye on me (no pun intend-
ed!) and stopped me getting lost and
run over by trams etc. Thank you,
Rebecca!
125,000 years later ... everyday life at the
site of the Hušnjakovo brdo rock shelter.
Photo: the author.