Optimising strategies for non-invasive prospection of settlements in the intertidal zone: a case study from the centre of the drowned medieval village of Tolsende (Scheldt Estuary, The Netherlands)

Dataset Description

This dataset accompanies the paper “Optimising strategies for non-invasive prospection of settlements in the intertidal zone: a case study from the centre of the drowned medieval village of Tolsende (Scheldt Estuary, The Netherlands)”, submitted as a short report to Archaeological Prospection. It contains the processed geophysical, geospatial, and remote sensing data that support the analyses and interpretations presented in the paper.

The data were acquired on the intertidal flats of the Scheldt Estuary and represent a multi-method, non-invasive survey of the central area of the medieval drowned village of Tolsende. The dataset includes UAV-based photogrammetry, UAV and terrestrial magnetometry, and subbottom profiling (SBP). Together, these datasets offer a detailed, multi-sensor perspective on buried settlement features in a dynamic coastal environment.

Contents

The repository includes the following processed datasets:

1. UAV Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
   Format: GeoTIFF
   DEM generated from UAV-based photogrammetric survey during low-tide.

2. UAV Orthophotomosaic
   Format: GeoTIFF
   Orthorectified RGB mosaic of the survey area derived from UAV imagery collected at low-tide.

3. Terrestrial Magnetometry Data
   Format: GeoTIFF
   Processed terrestrial magnetic fluxgate gradiometry dataset collected at low-tide.

4. UAV Magnetometry Data
   Format: GeoTIFF
   Processed tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer dataset collected using a drone-based Sensys R4 magnetometer system at low-tide.

5. Subbottom Profiler Data
   Format: Zip file containing SEG-Y
   Processed seismic dataset collected using a Subbottom Profiler at high-tide.

6. Subbottom Profiler survey lines
   Format: Shapefile
   Polyline file showing survey line locations with Subbottom Profiler Data filenames as attributes.

7. Subbottom Profiler survey interpretation
   Format: Shapefile
   Interpreted geological and archaeological reflectors derived from the SBP data presented in the paper.

Authors

Jan Trachet^1,*, Sarah Bäumler^2,*, Stefan Krojer^3,*, Jeroen Verhegge^1,4,*, Wim De Clercq¹, Philippe De Smedt^1,4, Wouter H. Maes⁵, Bente Majchczack², Immo Trinks³, Dennis Wilken²
*Combined first authors.

Affiliations:
¹ Ghent University, Department of Archaeology, Ghent, Belgium
² Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
³ Vienna University, Vienna Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Vienna, Austria
⁴ Ghent University, Department of Environment, Ghent, Belgium
⁵ Ghent University, Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent, Belgium