Rapid and sensitive magnetometer surveys of large areas using SQUIDs - the measurement system and its application to the niederzimmern neolithic double-ring ditch exploration

摘要

A geomagnetic field measurement system for the detection of archaeological signatures in the subsoil is presented based on the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The system provides fast mapping of large areas with high magnetic field gradient resolution as well as lateral precision. The acquired data are geographically referenced and also the altitude profile is given. The properties of the system were tested intensively at the large Neolithic double-ring ditch enclosure of Niederzimmern near Weimar, Germany. Differences of the signal acquisition compared with caesium magnetometers are discussed. In the Niederzimmern double-ring ditch enclosure, with an area of 27 ha, archaeological patterns were found only near the gates. These SQUID measurements, together with accompanying excavations, provide a complex picture of the double-ring ditch enclosure, dated about 5600 years old.