Sixty-six new archaeological sites have been discovered thanks to the combined use of different remote sensing techniques and open access geospatial datasets (mainly aerial photography, satellite imagery, and airborne LiDAR). These sites enhance the footprint of the Roman military presence in the northern fringe of the River Duero basin (León, Palencia, Burgos and Cantabria provinces, Spain). This paper provides a detailed morphological description of 66 Roman military camps in northwestern Iberia that date to the late Republic or early Imperial eras. We discuss the different spatial datasets and GIS tools used for different geographic contexts of varied terrain and vegetation. Finally, it stresses out the relevance of these novel data to delve into the rationale behind the Roman army movements between the northern Duero valley and the southern foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains. We conclude that methodological approaches stimulated by open-access geospatial datasets and enriched by geoscientific techniques are fundamental to understand the expansion of the Roman state in northwestern Iberia during the 1st c. BC properly. This renewed context set up a challenging scenario to overcome traditional archaeological perspectives still influenced by the cultural-historical paradigm and the pre-eminence of classical written sources.

Although drone thermography is increasingly applied as an archaeological remote sensing tool in the last few years, the technique and methods are still relatively under investigated. No doubt there are successes in positive identification of buried archaeology, and the prospection technique has clear complementary value. Nevertheless, there are also instances where thermograms did not reveal present shallow buried architectural features which had been clearly identified by, for example, ground-penetrating radar. The other way around, there are cases where the technique was able to pick up a signals of buried archaeology at a time of day that is supposed to be very unfavorable for thermographic recording. The main issue here is that the exact factors determining the potential for tracing thermal signatures of anthropomorphic interventions in the soil are many, and their effect, context, and interaction under investigated. This paper deals with a systematic application of drone thermography on two archaeological sites in different soils and climates, one in The Netherlands, and one in Italy, to investigate important variables that can make the prospection technique effective.

This paper addresses an experimental approach to the archaeological study of Roman camps in NW Iberia using ground-penetrating radar (henceforth GPR). The main goal is to explore the capabilities of GPR to extract datasets from ephemeral features, such as temporary camps or siege works, among others. This information aims to maximise the data available before excavation, orienting it to areas that could provide good results in terms of feature detection and contrast between soil matrix and archaeological deposits. This paper explores the potential of the GPR approach and volumetric data visualisation to improve our understanding of four ephemeral sites: Alto da Raia (Montalegre, Portugal–Calvos de Randín, Spain), Sueros de Cepeda (Villamejil, Spain), Los Andinales (Villsandino, Spain), and Villa María (Sasamón, Spain). Despite the focus of this paper, other survey techniques (namely LiDAR, aerial photography, and magnetometry) were used in combination with GPR. Further excavation of the sites provided ground truthing for all data remotely gathered.

The authors have developed an extensive research program in the Odra-Pisuerga and Amaya areas since 2008. This initiative aims to better understand the cultural, political, social and economic changes that took place in this landscape between the Late Iron Age and the end of the Roman world. Due to its rich archaeological heritage, we chose the area of Sasamon as a case study, where we can find an indigenous oppidum, evidence of Roman military presence and a city founded at the very beginning of the Roman Imperial periode. Given the potential of this region for the documentation of archaeological structures through aerial photography, we planned a systematic aerial coverage by using UAV in spring 2019. Among other issues, this archaeological intervention allowed us to increase our knowledge about the Roman military presence in the area, as well as to define more precisely the Roman urbanism of the city of Segisaino.

The territory of Tipasa, an iconic UNESCO landscape that comprises the ancient city of Mauretania and its Royal Mausoleum, has never been systematically investigated. The exception may be Gsell’s archaeological atlas of Algeria, compiled more than a century ago (Gsell, 1911). Since 2021, the TIPASA Project, a Spanish-Algerian survey program, was organized to shed light on this ill-studied ancient city and its territory. The survey approaches the subject from both the “site” and “off-site” perspectives, using tools such as remote sensing, field survey, and material culture, as well as an education program for Algerian students. This research is essential to understanding the part played by Punic, Hellenistic, Mauretanian, and Roman agents in creating the territory. The research methods and conceptual framework emphasize the particularities of North African cities and the creation of African-led networks in Antiquity across the Mediterranean, particularly the connections with the Iberian Peninsula before and after the imposition of Roman administrative structures.