Detection of subsurface features using geophysical methods is an important component of archaeological research. Most geophysical methods suffer from loss of resolution with depth and are most successful when employed on hyper‐shallow targets. We present a novel imaging method that utilizes summation of diffracted seismic energy in the depth domain to image the subsurface and detect areas of material contrasts, which is especially useful for detecting subsurface voids. The diffraction imaging (DI) method was validated in a synthetic case and in two archaeological sites where known ancient tunnels exist and then employed in the ancient copper ore district of Timna Valley (southern Israel). The results demonstrate the feasibility of the DI method to detect ancient underground mining galleries that connected between (now blocked) mining shafts, which in turn constitutes a significant contribution to the study of ancient prospection and mining technologies and related social and historical aspects.

中文翻译：

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衍射叠层成像可作为探测地下空隙的潜在工具-以Timna谷地古铜矿为例（以色列）

利用地球物理方法检测地下特征是考古研究的重要组成部分。大多数地球物理方法都会随着深度而降低分辨率，并且在用于超浅层目标时最为成功。我们提出了一种新颖的成像方法，该方法利用深度域中衍射地震能量的总和来成像地下并检测材料对比区域，这对于检测地下空隙特别有用。衍射成像（DI）方法在一个合成案例中以及在存在已知古老隧道的两个考古现场进行了验证，然后在Timna Valley（以色列南部）的古老铜矿区中使用。结果表明，采用DI方法检测连接（现已堵塞）矿井之间的古老地下矿井的可行性，