Geophysical Survey

Geophysical survey is used to create maps of subsurface archaeological features most commonly through the use of magnetometers, electrical resistance meters, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic (EM) conductivity meters. . Geophysical instruments can detect buried features when their electrical or magnetic properties contrast measurably with their surroundings. In some cases individual artefacts, especially metal, may be detected as well.

Readings taken in a systematic pattern become a data set that can be rendered as image maps. Survey results can be used to guide excavation and to give archaeologists insight into the patterning of non-excavated parts of the site. Unlike other archaeological methods , geophysical survey is not invasive nor destructive.