Airborne and spaceborne remote sensing in archaeology generates at least two important issues for discussion: technology and visualization. Technology seems to open new cognitive perspectives for archaeology and keeps researchers increasingly fascinated in its capabilities (archaeological science being a case in point). Acquired data, especially via remote sensing methods, can be studied after processing and visualizing. The paper raises several issues related to the new cognitive situation of archaeologists facing the development of new technologies within remote sensing methods. These issues are discussed from ontological, epistemological, and discursive perspectives, supporting an exploration of the role of technology and visualization. The ontological perspective places the visualization of remote sensing data in the context of understanding Virtual Reality and Jean Baudrillard’s simulacra. The epistemological perspective generates questions related to visualization as mimesis, the issue of cultural neutrality, and the use of sophisticated classifications and analytical techniques. The level of discursiveness of visualization includes categories such as persuasion, standardization, and aesthetics. This discussion is framed in relation to Martin Heidegger’s understanding of technology and a dichotomy of naturalism versus antinaturalism.

The island site of Biskupin with its densely planned interior bears an uncanny resemblance to a prison camp. Is it typical of the Iron Age in Northern Europe? The authors here explore neighbouring sites around Poznań using aerial photographs, geophysical survey and dendrochronology – to stunning effect. These low impact methods have given high impact results: dated street plans, some similar and others different from Biskupin, but within the same time frame: almost a repertoire of early urbanism. The authors must also be congratulated on the identification of a new type of Iron Age feature, the ‘open area for spouse avoidance’ defined at Sobiejuchy.

During the early fifth millennium BC, Linearbandkeramik groups along the Danube in Central Europe constructed hundreds of circular enclosures, or ‘rondels’. These monumental sites signalled major social, economic and ideological change among these early farming communities. Their absence north of the Carpathian and Sudeten Mountains has been taken to suggest that this area lay on the periphery of this Early Neolithic world. Here, the authors report on a systematic programme of non-invasive prospection, including aerial photography, in Lower Silesia. The survey has identified eight previously undocumented rondels, significantly extending their distribution. Their detection emphasises the importance of combining prospection methods, and calls for a re-evaluation of core-periphery interpretations of Early Neolithic Central Europe.

The RESEARCH project (Remote Sensing techniques for Archaeology; H2020-MSCA-RISE, 2018-2022, grant agreement: 823987) addresses the design and development of a multi-task platform, combining advanced remote sensing technologies with Geographical Information System (GIS) application for mapping and long-term monitoring of Archaeological Heritage (AH) at risk, to identify changes due to climate change and anthropic pressures. The Earth Observation (EO) processing chain will address significant risks affecting AH including soil erosion, land movement and land-use change. The paper describes one of the main goals of RESEARCH project. It refers to a state of the art analysis of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) methods applied to the land movement detection such as landslide and subsidence. Satellite SAR is a rapidly evolving remote sensing technology that offers a high potential for detecting, documenting and monitoring heritage targets. Satellite SAR interferometry (InSAR), Differential Interferometry (DinSAR) and Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) are different techniques that, depending on the available data and the required accuracy, can be used for deformation monitoring of AH.