Paleoimaging: a review of applications and challenges

This paper reviews the contributions and current practices of paleoimaging modalities as applied to the bioarchaeological research setting. The paper provides a brief historical perspective regarding imaging approaches in this unique context and a description of various modalities including photography, 3D surface scanning, aerial imaging, LiDAR, GPR, portable radiography, endoscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and advanced medical imaging. The paper presents a review of issues and applications of paleoimaging with an emphasis on specific research questions. A description of the limitations and challenges for paleoimaging within the bioarchaeological construct follows and offers support for the multimodal approach to paleoimaging. Interpretation of imaging data by consensus including paleoimagers, medical scientists and bioarchaeologists is addressed. The paper concludes with a look to the future of paleoimaging from an applications and standards development perspective.