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Aerial photographs are probably not considered very strange today. I don\’t mean in terms of what it shows. It is indeed breathtaking. What I mean is the fact that the possibility exists to photograph something from a bird\’s eye view. The first pioneer of aerial photography was the French journalist and cartoonist Gaspar Felix Tournachon.
– In 1858 he decided to experiment with hot air balloons.
– Several attempts failed, but he eventually succeeded in immortalizing the Bievre River valley.
– Unfortunately, his photographs did not survive, and the photographer himself was forgotten by the public after his death.

Aerial Archaeology
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However, the original idea of photographing landscapes from high altitudes did not catch on, and peoplebegan to realize that aerial photography could be beneficial.

– It is also important from a historical and archaeological perspective.
Therefore, in 1900, prehistoric and ancient sites began to be photographed from high altitudes.One of the oldest archaeological sites is the menhir and stone circle complex at Stonehenge, England.
– Actual archaeological and aerial investigations did not begin until the 1920s.
Paradoxically, World War I played an important role in its development. The development of aircraft was crucial during this period. Tournachon is thus forgotten, and the British archaeologist and geographerOsbert Crawford is considered the father of aerial photography.
– A watershed moment for him was seeing aerial photographs of British airports.
– He recognized an area of vanished prehistoric fields by its shadows and vegetation features.

He began a systematic aerial survey of Wessex County; 45]determined not to keep his findings to himself, he published his firstaerial archaeology textbook in 1928. In it, he listed several mistakes that led him down the wrong path.
– For example, he describes his diligent investigation over a mysterious ring in a pasture.
– Eventually,he discovered that the ring was grazed by goats, and tied to a pole.