Archaeology is now able to take advantage of a range of methods and technologies for revealing, recording and preserving hominin artefacts. Some of these operate at the landscape scale: satellite technology and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) are increasingly used to identify habitations and other large-scale structures.⁴⁰,⁴¹These techniques are particularly useful in inaccessible regions such as dense forest. Many ancient settlements and geoglyphs in the Amazon rainforest have been identified by airborne LiDAR,⁴²,⁴³ and some researchers are exploring LiDAR’s usefulness for underwater archaeology.⁴⁴

Future Horizons:

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5-yearhorizon

Technology enables digitalisation and sharing of knowledge

Rapid and accurate 3D digitalisation of artefacts, buildings and landscapes becomes possible. Customisable laser-scanning equipment is used for rapid assessment of different-sized artefacts. Cheaper and faster internet facilitates more equitable data sharing.

10-yearhorizon

Standardisation improves archaeological insight

Global standardisation of archaeological protocols enables systematic comparisons, increasing depth of insight. There is a new, widespread availability of experimental methods for completing and interpreting damaged and incomplete texts, such as clarifying strokes and inscriptions. AI-based translators give approximate translations of texts in ancient languages. Higher-resolution scanners, going beyond the current 20-micron limit to 1 micron or less, enable finer analysis of cut marks and other forms of wear, while higher-resolution LiDAR, down to 1 centimetre, improves aerial analysis of structures.

25-yearhorizon

Scanning improvements give new views of artefacts

3D scans extend beyond the visible spectrum, for instance including data on the composition of pigments on surfaces or materials in soil. AI enables much faster analyses of large numbers of artefacts, speeding up “routine” work and data publication. Regular global LiDAR coverage reveals — and monitors — heritage sites.

At smaller scales, advances in the use of isotopes, including non-traditional isotopes, are enabling archaeologists to trace the materials in artefacts like swords back to their mineral sources.⁴⁵,⁴⁶ These studies are revealing continent-spanning exchange networks long before empires or modern globalisation.⁴⁷ Similarly, new dating techniques like uranium-thorium are proving invaluable for determining the age of artefacts such as rock art, providing some of the first hard evidence that other hominins such as Neanderthals made art.⁴⁸ AI is also proving useful. It has helped to identify the chemical signatures of heating in ancient rocks, for example, providing evidence of controlled use of fire a million years ago.⁴⁹

New methods are being brought to bear on the interpretation and decoding of artefacts. Photogrammetry, which enables the 3D scanning of artefacts, is increasingly used to reveal hidden details and patterns.⁵⁰ AI can restore degraded ancient texts and identify their sources and ages.⁵¹ Similarly, ancient scrolls that are tightly wrapped and damaged can now be 3D-scanned and some of the text read.⁵²

Exposing and decoding world heritage - Anticipation Scores

The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:

The uncertainty related to future science breakthroughs in the field
The transformative effect anticipated breakthroughs may have on research and society
The scope for action in the present in relation to anticipated breakthroughs.

This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.