“Archaeological attributes important for determining cultural affiliation, site age, or artifact origin can be damaged or destroyed by wildfires. Satellite-derived fire severity products are used in post-fire rapid response to prioritize and guide stabilization and preservation activities, but their ability to predict archaeological fire effects has not yet been tested. We compared the severity of fire from Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) maps with ground-based observations of fire severity (“archaeological fire severity”) and fire-induced changes to architecture, features, or artifacts (“archaeological fire effects”) for 904 archaeological sites within three wildfires in the Jemez Mountains of north-central New Mexico, U.S. Results from this unique study inform archaeological preservation in the context of wildfires and fire management.”
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Loehman, R.A., Friggens, M.M., Constan, C.I. et al. Relationship of satellite-derived fire severity to archaeological fire severity and fire effects in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, USA. fire ecol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-026-00472-w