Pachacamac GIS Project: A Practical Application of Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Techniques in Andean Archaeology (original) (raw)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been intensively developed since their origin in the early 1960s and employed for a variety of purposes both in academic and commercial fields thereafter. Following in the steps of precocious applications in disciplines such as forestry and hydrology, a handful of archaeologists began to employ this useful tool for their analyses of spatial phenomena in the early 1980s. In Andean archaeology, GIS together with related peripheral techniques (e.g., remote sensing and GPS) have become increasingly popular, particularly among younger archaeologists who recognize their ability to cope with a wide range of spatial scales and integrate multiple types of data. In accordance with the conceptual transitions of “space” and “landscape” and the expansion of study area over time, GIS have been successfully integrated into the archaeological methodology and even theoretical discussions. In the early 1980s when GIS were first introduced into archaeology, there were two contrasting conceptions: the processualistic spatiality (space as non-problematic abstract backdrop and landscape as a palimpsest of material traces) on one hand, and the postprocessualistic backlash against it, on the other. Correspondingly, GIS applications were also split broadly into two separate directions: processualistic regional modeling studies and postprocessualistic phenomenological reconstructions of past landscape. Backed up by theoretical and methodological advancements in both geography and archaeology and active interactions among archaeologists in professional meetings and on the web, each school of thought is anticipated to go a long way in meeting their respective aims. It is obvious that GIS and related peripheral techniques hold the promise for future archaeological research. However, as the history of archaeological applications of research tools borrowed from other fields foretells, their appropriateness and efficacy need to be carefully assessed as their applications pose major conceptual and practical challenges, not to mention a substantial amount of time, money, and technical expertise. In this context, my case study to create GIS-based digital site maps of Pachacamac, which was a part of the on-going long-term archaeological project on the central coast of Peru (Pachacamac Archaeological Project) was aimed at scrutinizing the potential and limitations of GIS and remote sensing techniques for archaeology and offering guidelines for the most efficient way to use them given resource limitations that commonly confront archaeologists. Although some geographers tend to overdramatize the potentials of GIS, contemplation on the nature of archaeological research and associated limitations exposes the complexity of archaeological applications of GIS and will bring archaeologists back to stark reality. Archaeologists usually have to select most cost-efficient techniques depending on their research objectives and available resources. The first step to apply GIS in archaeology in general needs to be taken considering the gap between the theories and our reality before us. Using the preparation of the GIS-based site map of Pachacamac as a case study, this thesis illustrates how we can bridge the gap between the theoretical potential of GIS on one hand, and constraints of archaeological reality, on the other. It shows how multiple layers of data as well as both analog and digital spatial data can be effectively integrated in the first digital map of Pachacamac to be produced.