Electrical resistivity and ground penetrating radar surveys at wiang tha kan archaeological site, chiang mai province, northern thailand

Abstract

© EAGE 2020. Electrical resistivity (ER) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were conducted at Wiang Tha Kan Archaeological Site located in Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand. The objective of the ER surveys is to detect an existence of missing ancient moat. Archaeologists suspect four sides of Wiang Tha Kan moat according to common Lanna city plan but at present there are only three sides remaining. Inverted ER profiles show indistinctive ER anomaly at expected locations of the missing moat extending from its present location. Therefore, the ER surveys may not be a suitable tool to support the existence of the missing moat. The GPR surveys were employed to detect an extended ancient wall at Wat Pra Chao Kam area located northeast of Wiang Tha Kan Archaeological Site. Some parts of the ancient wall has been excavated and the extended wall has been presumed to exist. The GPR surveys covered areas connected to the exposed wall. GPR anomaly maps at various depths show a linear anomalous zone connected to the exposed wall at 0.4-0.8 m depth. This zone may be interpreted as a location of the buried ancient wall. The GPR maps is useful for planning of future archaeological excavation.