Archaeology in the age of LiDAR revelations

Left: The mountain slopes of the southern Vosges, near Fresse (Haute-Saône), covered in vegetation. Right: LiDAR view, in volume, of terraces developed over several centuries to improve sloping soils for agricultural use. — Left: The mountain slopes of the southern Vosges, at Fresse (Haute-Saône), covered in vegetation. Right: LiDAR view, in volume, of terraces developed over several centuries to improve sloping soils for agricultural use. C. FRUCHART 2025, VOSEGO PROGRAM, MSHE/UMR 6249/MARIE ET LOUIS PASTEUR UNIVERSITY. VIEWS OBTAINED FROM IGN BD ORTHO® AND LIDAR HD DATA

The word "LiDAR" is still little known to the general public. Unless, perhaps, we are talking about the lost cities found under the canopy in Cambodia or Central America , thanks to the scanning, from the sky, of a laser beam that passes through gaps in the foliage. This technology, adopted for about twenty years by archaeologists, is shaking up their discipline, but not only in equatorial or tropical forests. "Here, we have the same thing, even if they are not pyramids!" , emphasizes archaeologist Murielle Leroy, a pioneer in the use of LiDAR for archaeological purposes in French forests in the late 2000s. "It was a revolutionary technology, and it still is," she assures.

In France, the National Geographic Institute (IGN) is well advanced in its full coverage of the territory. Each new data harvest, each new quadrilateral covered, is eagerly awaited by archaeologists. This coverage puts the country on par with some of its neighbors, who had invested earlier in LiDAR. Finally, the European continent has taken the measure of its interest in the recognition, study and protection of archaeological heritage: as an indication of the maturity of this tool, the European Archaeological Council published, on March 25, a guide to its proper use for the scientific community .

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