LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS—More than 6,500 volunteers have assisted with the identification of some 1,000 prehistoric burial mounds in the central Netherlands in the Heritage Quest project, according to a ZME Science report. The citizen scientists were tasked with reviewing small image tiles compiled from lidar data. Each tile was analyzed by at least 15 trained volunteers to reduce the possibility of errors. Archaeologists then traveled to 380 sites chosen by the volunteers and collected soil samples from each. The study determined that about 59 percent of the sites identified by the volunteers were actual burial mounds. When more than seven volunteers agreed on the presence of a barrow, that number rose to 75 percent, and when more than 12 citizen scientists agreed, the rate of accuracy rose to 85 percent. “What would have taken professional archaeologists years to accomplish was achieved in a matter of months thanks to the combination of lidar technology and citizen participation,” said Quentin Bourgeois of Leiden University. The identification of these prehistoric sites will help government and heritage organizations to protect them from development, he added, explaining that many of the volunteers have now become vocal advocates for the preservation of these prehistoric landscapes. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about a 4,000-year-old sanctuary of earthen mounds outside the town of Tiel, go to “Around the World: The Netherlands.”
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