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This paper compares and evaluates the significance of spectral characteristics and pixel resolution of the very high spatial resolution satellite systems (VHSRS) Quickbird-2 and Ikonos-2 for automatic extraction of ancient features on one archaeological site, the antique town Sagalassos (southwest-Turkey). The evaluation of the spectral characteristics is based on a band-by-band comparison. Pixel- and object-based classification techniques are compared with visual analyses to assess the effects of different image characteristics. The analysis reveals that Quickbird-2 is outperforming Ikonos-2 for the visual identification of ancient remains. Its augmented spatial resolution however does not necessarily result in a better automatic classification. For Sagalassos, maximum likelihood classification on Ikonos-2 gives the best results. The accuracy of automatic extraction depends on the type and characteristics of the VHSRS data, the classification method and on on-site parameters. Site characteristics appear ...