System of Potential Geophysical Field Application in Archaeological Prospection

Geophysical potential fields (magnetic, self-potential, gravity, resistivity, and thermal) are effective, low-cost, and rapid tools for studying the most part of archaeological remains in the world. Innovative interpretation methodologies developed in magnetic prospecting for complex physical-geological (archaeological) environments (oblique magnetization (polarization), uneven terrain relief, and indefinite level of the normal field) were efficaciously transferred to other potential fields. Abundant examples (from Israel and other countries) demonstrate effective employment of the potential geophysical methods for the localization of typical archaeological remains. The ways for the utilization of the temporal fast (magnetic method) and the temporal long-term (thermal method) variations for the archaeological purposes are discussed. The possibilities of application of some concepts of the theory of information to single geophysical method and integration of methods are briefly presented.