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Archaeological Applications of GIS

Jo Dyson GIS and Mapping Technician Room MB 25 j.dyson@worc.ac.uk

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

How do Archaeologists use GIS?


Density

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

Questions that can be answered using GIS


Location what artefacts have been found along the proposed route of the new road Trend how does the density of primary debris change as one moves away from the historic hearth Routing does the medieval track way follow the most energy efficient route Pattern are burial cairns distributed uniformly across the landscape or are they clustered on SE facing slopes Modelling where would you find Mesolithic campsites

First use of GIS in Archaeology


Gaffney and Stani (1991) Work based on Island of Hvar, Croatia Created a DEM from topographic map at scale of 1:50,000

First use of GIS in Archaeology


Used Site Catchment Analysis (SCA) on hillforts Hillforts functioned as a central place for large numbers of inhabitants due to location in landscape and labour required Hillforts were situated on hilltops and surrounded by large stone ramparts

What is Site Catchment Analysis?


Technique for analysing the locations of archaeological sites by

the economic resources which are available to them The farther from the site, the resources are, the greater the economic cost of exploiting them

First use of GIS in Archaeology


Used Visibility Analysis on the Greek Towers of Hvar Built to allow town of Pharos to be alerted of any danger approaching them Towers would have used fire or smoke signals to send message assumes clear line of sight between them - can be tested with GIS Discovered that tower at Maslinovik would have been able to see tower at Tor and pass message back to Pharos

Wroxeter Hinterland Project


Gaffney et al (2007) First use of GIS in archaeology as database for all information relating to project : geophysics, aerial imagery, field walking, OS mapping and find spots etc

Wroxeter Hinterland Project

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

Arroux River Valley region of Burgundy, France


Madry and Cumley (unknown date) Predictive modelling of archaeological sites Created a DEM and then did various analysis to work out archaeological site locations

Analysis required to create Predictive Model Survey


Elevation Aspect Geology Slope data

Buffers for Analysis of Data


Distance to ancient roads Distance to rivers/waterways Distance to hillforts

Line of Site Analysis


The old Celtic road network connecting the hillforts tended to follow within the lineof-sight of the hillforts, rather than take more direct paths even if they are less direct or require a steeper climb

The Predictive Model


Find

new sites based on known site locations


Roman sites follow rivers and roads on lower elevation Celtic sites are located within uplands

Laxton Castle, Nottinghamshire


Combined use of GPS, GIS, Geophysics and historical mapping to understand castle and its environs C12th Motte and Bailey Castle

Laxton Castle, Nottinghamshire

Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire


C11th Motte and Bailey castle Similar techniques used as Laxton Castle

Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire

King Edward I Castles in North Wales


My BA and MA dissertation work BA: Viewshed (Visibility) Analysis and Cost Surface Analysis (CSA) MA: Sensuous Viewsheds or 3D Visibility Analysis and used GIS in conjunction with Autodesk 3D Studio Max to create castle models

Visibility Analysis and Cost Surface Analysis

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

Harlech to Flint CSA

CSA

Harlech to Conwy CSA with equation

Sensuous (or 3D) Visibility Analysis

Mobile GIS in Archaeological Fieldwork and Survey

GPS combined with ArcGIS ArcPad on PDA or Notebook

Displaying of Archaeological Data

Historic Environment Record (HER)


Gloucestershire County Council HER holds 24,000 records and is constantly updated Uses an Oracle database linked to ArcGIS

Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC)

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

Wolverhampton: Surviving Terrace Houses


Legend Green is Circa 1910 Blue is Circa 1900 Purple is Circa 1880 Green is Wolverhampton City Boundary Red is Main Roads (Modern Roads)

Advantages of using GIS in Archaeology


Allows large amounts of data to be analysed And interpreted in a fraction of the time i.e can look at large geographical areas and combine spatial with data with a textual database Makes textural data more appealing

Advantages of using GIS in Archaeology


Large scale issues Ancient landscapes Distribution of sites Trade networks across Europe Analysis of settlement patterns Small scale issues Recording individual stones in a monument. Analysis of distribution of artefacts at a site Site management

Scales of Analysis for an Archaeological Site or Sites

Advantages of using GIS in Archaeology


Combines data. Integrate vector data (point plotted artefacts, features, excavation units) with raster data (photographs, geophysical data, remote-sensing images, interpolated artefact density surfaces).

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)

Issues Surrounding the use of GIS


The information is only as good as the original data source and is dependent upon the expertise and experience of the researcher Bias to regional landscape based studies GIS is atemporal and only able to deal with spatial phenomena in a single instant of time although this has been accommodated by use of time slices

Issues Surrounding the use of GIS


Gives a picture of past landscapes which the inhabitant would hardly recognise (Thomas 1993) GIS has a positivist and scientific bias Some data does not lend itself to digital capture (e.g. soil types rarely change as abruptly as the lines demarking the distribution on a map will show) GIS does not take into account the seasonal variation of vegetation cover or how a landscape may have been vegetated GIS is ocular-centric you only see the landscape, not experience it in any other way Is it just pretty pictures?

Future uses of GIS in Archaeology


Move towards humanistic and environmental approaches Llobera 1996 Move towards 3D-GIS: Mossel Bay Archaeology Project (MAP) South Africa Modelled caves to find out about the behaviour of early humans and how they reacted to environmental change

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

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