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GIS and Mapping

The document discusses the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and mapping in archaeology, emphasizing their importance in site discovery and regional surveys. It outlines the research design process, including evidence collection and analysis, and details the functionalities of GIS, such as predictive modeling and data visualization. Additionally, it explores social organization and classifications of societies within archaeological contexts.

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Tobi Bankole
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10 views25 pages

GIS and Mapping

The document discusses the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and mapping in archaeology, emphasizing their importance in site discovery and regional surveys. It outlines the research design process, including evidence collection and analysis, and details the functionalities of GIS, such as predictive modeling and data visualization. Additionally, it explores social organization and classifications of societies within archaeological contexts.

Uploaded by

Tobi Bankole
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GIS And

Mapping
This week’s readings

01 02 03 04
RENFREW & BAHN PETERSON ET AL. GARRISON ET AL. CONOLLY & LAKE
Chapter 3 (Where?) Regional-scale Magnetic Geographical
& 5 (How were Analysis of prospection and Information
societies Prehistoric Human the discovery of Systems in
organized?) Interaction Mission Santa archeology
Catalina de Guale
Research design
1. formulation of a research
strategy
2. collecting and recording of
evidence against which to test
that idea – whether survey or
excavation or both
3. processing and analysis of that
evidence and its interpretation
in the light of the original idea
4. publication of the results in
articles, books, etc.
Chapter 3: Survey and Excavation
● There’s more to fieldwork than excavation and discovery
● Studying entire landscapes by regional survey is a major part of archeology
● Methods used in discovery vs methods used once sites and features have
been discovered
○ GIS and mapping is useful in both cases
● Site discovery: ground reconnaissance vs arial survey
○ Many sites are barely visible or don’t even qualify as sites
○ Mapping incorporates these off-site/non-site areas (scattered artifacts)
Survey contd.
● Survey and mapping focus on the spatial distribution of human activities,
variations between regions, changes in population over time, relationships
between people, land, and resources
● A site is mapped after it is surveyed (site surface survey)
○ Topographical maps
○ Thematic maps
○ GIS
01
What is GIS?
GIS Basics
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a collection of hardware,
software and geographical data designed to obtain, store, manage,
manipulate, analyze, and display a wide range of spatial information

● GIS combine databases and digital mapping tools


● Combines spatial and temporal data
● Developed from computer-aided design and mapping programs (CAD/CAM)
● GIS are capable of statistical analysis of site distribution & generating new
info
GIS Basics
● Vertical (taken by an archeologist) and oblique (non-archeological) aerial
images can be georeferenced and layered in a GIS
● Spatial data in vector format: point, line, polygon/area
● Spatial data in raster format: a grid of cells
● Stored with an ID label and non-spatial attributes (name, date, material)
● GIS are divided into map layers representing single variables
○ Site plans, artifact distribution, survey results, maps, etc
Uses of GIS
● Predictive models of site locations: modeling how likely a place is to be a
site based on known information about the site
○ Can be deterministic
● Environmental data can be mapped but “fuzzy” data is more difficult
● Data acquisition, spatial data management, database management, data
visualization, spatial analysis, image processing
Uses of GIS
● Tells us about:
○ Spatial location
○ Morphology (size an object)
○ Spatial association and interaction (path a crosses path b)
○ Temporal relationships (absolute and relative dates)
○ Aspatial attributes (biographical info, color, material, etc)
Raster vs vector data
● Unlike traditional maps, GIS can combine topographic & thematic data with
its data models
● Vector data structure: coordinates used to define objects on a plane
● Raster data structure: pixels on a grid matrix have attributes
● Vector structures are more precise but much slower and can’t represent
fuzzy boundaries
● Raster structures are much faster, good at representing continuously varying
data & fuzzy boundaries
Teotihuacan Site survey mapping & GIS

Mapping
Project
BAY
Giza Plateau ● Integrate all the drawings, thousands
of digital photographs, notebooks,
forms, and artifacts
Social organization
● Putting sites in a larger context — what is the scale and internal
organization?
● Top-down vs bottom-up understanding
○ Gender, status, age, identity essential to individual centered
understanding
● Central Place Theory: developed by German geographer Walter Christaller
○ Each major center is the farthest away from from other major centers
and surrounded by a ring of smaller settlements
Classifications of societies
Mobile
Segmentary
hunter-gatherer Chiefdoms State
societies
groups
seasonally settled agricultural Urban settlement
homesteads or permanent ritual pattern with cities,
occupied camps,
villages and ceremonial hierarchies,
and other smaller
center administration
and more
specialized sites
Santa Catalina OCEAN
de Daule,
● Northernmost Spanish colonial
outpost (1587- 1681) — St Catherine’s
Island

Georgia
● Survey sampling pointed to
quadrangle IV
● Five different maps created from data

1. Contour map of quad IV


2. Three dimensional plots measuring
magnetometer readings
3. Contour map using Fortran
software
4. Contour map as a counterpart for 3
5. SYMPAP images showing
magnetism

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