Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
GIS offers archaeologists an exciting and powerful research tool The data is both spatial and temporal and is therefore suited to the basic principles of GIS Main applications
Cultural Resource Management Historic Environment Record (HER) Landscape Analysis
analysis of selected features or artefact types across a site, or of site types across a region Analysis of clustering, proximity, orientation, intervisibility, and other spatial relationships Visualizing 3D relationships Visualizing time series Archaeological Predictive modelling
Analysing Data
the economic resources which are available to them The farther from the site, the resources are, the greater the economic cost of exploiting them
Stonehenge Landscapes
Exon et al (2000) Aim of the project was to digitally explore the relationships of the monuments around Stonehenge and how these relationships have changed over time Groundbreaking to the extent that the readers were able to see and question the data on a CD, provided with book
Stonehenge Landscapes
Discovered that there was a key relationship between the monuments and the topography First to study the Stonehenge landscape using GIS. It transformed archaeologists views on the Stonehenge landscape as the GIS showed the already well-studied area in a new light The project demonstrates GIS ability to interpret data as opposed to just a data storage tool
What is CSA?
First you need to know the cost over all types of terrain Normally this means calculating cost from for example the slope grid 4 miles/hr 3 miles/hr 2 miles/hr Not forgetting the effect of slope distance Distance shown on map Slope distance
CSA
GIS recognises the sea as best route GIS has worked out that the shortest route between the castles is across the sea is, due to the fact that the sea is the lowest point on the DEM Therefore, the computer automatically assumes the sea is the quickest and easiest route to take This is a limitation of the GIS program
CSA
HLC is concerned with mapping our entire historic landscape Work usually done by Local Authorities To build a HLC database, using a GIS and digital mapping, vector polygons are created to give a particular landscape type to a block of land A landscape type could be woodland, military, or residential Each type is given its own colour and displayed in the GIS as an additional layer. Changes to the landscape can be shown over time by switching the layers on and off
Wolverhampton in 1880
Legend Blue is Extractive Pink is Settlement Red is Commercial Yellow is Recreational
Wolverhampton in 1910
Legend Blue is Extractive Pink is Settlement Red is Commercial Yellow is Recreational
Wolverhampton in 2000
Legend Blue is Extractive Pink is Settlement Red is Commercial Yellow is Recreational
Relate tabular data to vector data. Scaleable works at the site level, local level, regional, and global levels.
Provides archaeologists with a new means of interpreting prehistoric and historic landscapes (archaeological predictive modelling)
Summary
The history of GIS in archaeology How GIS is used by archaeologists The advantages and disadvantages of using GIS in archaeology Possible future uses of GIS in Archaeology