Overview
Dr. Matthew D. Howland is an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on the application of digital 3D and spatial methods to the study of the past. Dr. Howland is the director of the Geospatial Archaeology Laboratory at Wichita State University and received his PhD and MA from the University of California San Diego and his BS/BA from Penn State. His research involves the application of low-altitude aerial remote sensing, including UAV/drone-based photography, to record and map archaeological sites in 3D and conduct intra-site spatial analyses in GIS. Dr. Howland also applies 3D and spatial storytelling platforms for community-engaged digital public archaeology. Dr. Howland is engaged in active field research in Kansas, Georgia, and the Eastern Mediterranean. His work has been published in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PLOS One, Journal of Archaeological Science, and Advances in Archaeological Practice, and has been covered in media outlets including CNN, Vice, and Newsweek.
Information
GIS, Low-altitude aerial photography, photogrammetry, UAVs, drones, LiDAR, 3D, digital archaeology, public archaeology, ceramic petrography
Howland, M. D., & Thompson, V.D.
2024 Modeling the potential impact of storm surge and sea level rise on coastal archaeological heritage: A case study from Georgia, PLOS One, 19(2): e0297178.
Howland, M. D., Tauxe, L., Gordin, S., Altaweel, M., Cych, B., & Ben-Yosef, E.
2023 Exploring geomagnetic variations in ancient Mesopotamia: Archaeomagnetic study of inscribed bricks from the 3rd–1st millennia BCE. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(52), e2313361120.
Howland, M.D., Tamberino, A., Liritzis, I., and Levy, T.E.
2022 Digital Deforestation: Comparing Automated Approaches to the Production of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) in Agisoft Metashape. Quaternary 5(1): 5.
Howland, M.D., Liss, B., Levy, T.E., and Najjar, M.
2020 Integrating Digital Datasets into Public Engagement through ArcGIS StoryMaps. Advances in Archaeological Practice 8(4): 351-360.
Liss, B., Howland, M.D., Lorentzen, B., Smitheram, C., Najjar, M., & Levy, T. E.
2020 Up the Wadi: Development of an Iron Age Industrial Landscape in Faynan, Jordan. Journal of Field Archaeology: 1-15.
Howland, M.D., Jones, I.W.N., Najjar, M., and Levy, T.E.
2018 Quantifying the Effects of Erosion on Archaeological Sites with Low-Altitude Aerial Photography, Structure from Motion, and GIS: A Case Study from Southern Jordan. Journal of Archaeological Science 90: 62-70.
Liss, B., Howland, M.D., and Levy, T.E.
2017 Testing Google Earth Engine for the Automatic Identification and Vectorization of Archaeological Features: A Case Study from Faynan, Jordan. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 15: 299-304.
Howland, M.D., F. Kuester, and T.E. Levy
2014 Structure from Motion: Twenty-First Century Field Recording with 3D Technology. Near Eastern Archaeology 77(3): 187-192.
Howland, M.D., F. Kuester, and T.E. Levy
2014 Photogrammetry in the Field: Documenting, Recording, and Presenting Archaeology. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 14(4): 101-108.