Non-invasive Geophysical Techniques for Prospecting the Sungai Batu Archaeological Site, Kedah, Malaysia

摘要

A geophysical survey that involved two different techniques of seismic refraction and magnetic was carried out with the aim of locating buried artifacts and specifying subsurface geological properties in a non-invasive manner at the Sungai Batu archaeological site, Kedah, Malaysia. Sungai Batu archaeological area is considered by archaeologists as a high-potential archaeological area where scientists search for signs of civilization. Seismic refraction method was performed for two profiles with using a 24 channel seismograph. The processing of the seismic refraction data was based on the FIRSTPIX and GREMIX15 software. The seismic results indicated that the area is composed of two main layers: the upper layer, made up of soil consisting of alluvium and sandy clay, and the second layer, made up of mixed saturated soil with water. The magnetic survey was conducted using a G-856 proton precession magnetometer with 5m sampling interval along 10m spaced parallel survey lines over 15 profiles. Six significant anomalies were found from residual magnetic map which two anomalies had high magnetic values, which can be related to ruins of old buildings made of mud bricks. An excavation test, performed by archaeologists, confirmed the geophysical results. Consequently, the investigated results approved the usefulness of geophysical techniques in mapping the subsurface structure and buried artifacts to design a more efficient plan for reducing the prospecting time and minimizing the environmental damage of archaeological excavation.