Artificial Intelligence in Archaeological Geophysics: Testing ChatGPT‐4o on Magnetometer Data From Sapallitepa (Uzbekistan)

ABSTRACT Archaeogeophysical prospection methods have become essential for the preparation and implementation of archaeological projects. This study evaluates the potential of ChatGPT‐4o, a large language model (LLM), to process grid‐based magnetometer data collected near the Late Bronze Age site of Sapallitepa in Uzbekistan (ca. 1600–1200 bce ). The aim was to assess whether natural language interaction could serve as a viable alternative to traditional software pipelines such as Geoplot 4.0. Both approaches—Geoplot and ChatGPT—were used to process the same field dataset, resulting in detailed magnetic anomaly maps that revealed subsurface archaeological features. While Geoplot required expert operation and domain‐specific configuration, ChatGPT processed the data based solely on textual prompts. In this study, ChatGPT‐4o is treated as a natural language interface for applying standard geophysical processing steps. Our findings indicate that ChatGPT, when guided by well‐formulated instructions, can deliver results comparable to those of specialized geophysical software. While domain expertise remains essential for meaningful interpretation, such tools could lower the barrier to entry for archaeological data processing. These results suggest a promising future for integrating AI‐driven methodologies into archaeogeophysical workflows, improving both accessibility and automation in data analysis.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Archaeological Prospection
Published
2025-09-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/arp.70006
Primary Topic
Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Artificial Intelligence in Archaeological Geophysics: Testing ChatGPT‐4o on Magnetometer Data From Sapallitepa (Uzbekistan)

Jörg W. E. Faßbinder, Azamat Zakirov, Andreas Stele, Ilyas Yanbukhtin et al.
1 links
Archaeological Prospection
Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction
article

Artificial Intelligence in Archaeological Geophysics: Testing ChatGPT‐4o on Magnetometer Data From Sapallitepa (Uzbekistan)

Jörg W. E. Faßbinder, Azamat Zakirov, Andreas Stele, Ilyas Yanbukhtin, Ulugbek Musaev
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Archaeogeophysical prospection methods have become essential for the preparation and implementation of archaeological projects. This study evaluates the potential of ChatGPT‐4o, a large language model (LLM), to process grid‐based magnetometer data collected near the Late Bronze Age site of Sapallitepa in Uzbekistan (ca. 1600–1200 bce ). The aim was to assess whether natural language interaction could serve as a viable alternative to traditional software pipelines such as Geoplot 4.0. Both approaches—Geoplot and ChatGPT—were used to process the same field dataset, resulting in detailed magnetic anomaly maps that revealed subsurface archaeological features. While Geoplot required expert operation and domain‐specific configuration, ChatGPT processed the data based solely on textual prompts. In this study, ChatGPT‐4o is treated as a natural language interface for applying standard geophysical processing steps. Our findings indicate that ChatGPT, when guided by well‐formulated instructions, can deliver results comparable to those of specialized geophysical software. While domain expertise remains essential for meaningful interpretation, such tools could lower the barrier to entry for archaeological data processing. These results suggest a promising future for integrating AI‐driven methodologies into archaeogeophysical workflows, improving both accessibility and automation in data analysis.

Archaeological ProspectionVol. 33(1)
Tashkent University of Information Technology (UZ), Conseil international des monuments et des sites (FR), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 77%
Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.