Distributional Archaeology and Subsurface Structure Function, El Baul Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala (original) (raw)
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Beyond the Artifact: Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, CAA 2004, 2011
This paper seeks to show how GIS has become an essential tool for the recording, storing, processing and visualization of the archaeological data at the ancient Maya city of Chunchucmil (Yucatan, Mexico). In this paper I want to highlight the importance of GIS in the analysis of mesospatial contexts (in relation with the internal structure of sites) at Chunchucmil, where the dense urban landscape of Classic period Chunchucmil is filled with cultural features visible on the surface. GIS has facilitated the spatial analysis of the almost 6 km 2 map of dense urban settlement, consisting of stone platforms and residences encircled by stone walls and several other associated cultural features. The integration of spatial and non-spatial data has allowed the creation of new thematic maps and has facilitated the recognition, analysis, and visualization of spatial association between these mapped cultural features.
Remote Sensing
This study describes a methodology for obtaining a geometric documentation of a medium-sized archaeological area by applying various geomatic techniques. The procedure considers the obtainment of products at several scales, from the entire site to small artifacts, and at several dates, in order to model the evolution of the archaeological work. The methodology includes both LiDAR and photogrammetry, using the LiDAR point clouds to support the geometry obtained using photogrammetry and adding texture from this source. The technique used was adapted to the circumstances of the scene by considering the scale level (resolution and accuracy), complexity, and other requirements of the project. In the case of LiDAR, terrestrial laser scanning and structured-light scanning were used, and the aerial photogrammetry used two types of RPAS (medium and low flight height), close range photogrammetry with a conventional camera, and very close-range photogrammetry with a conventional camera mounted...
Dissertation, 2022
Creation of space is complex and multilayered. When societies or groups make or construct space it can represent or reflect a variable host of characteristics of a given culture or people including but not limited to political, symbolic, ritual, social, practical, functional, and traditional aspects. All of these attributes create patterns that are observable across the landscape and in the archaeological record in both the visible and invisible remains. This dissertation examines and compares the aspects of the built and the buried environment that create those settlement and spatial patterns. Where previously discussed, with regard to ancient Maya site comparison, the research focus has been on small, individual sites and their relationships to their respective larger centers. This dissertation employs the novel approach of comparing the smaller sites of Las Abejas, Medicinal Trail, and Tzak Naab in northwest Belize to one another. I also scrutinize the reflection of social organization status disparities, and social traditions as they present in the spatial patterns. In order to do this, I identified and defined the relevant site planning approaches and aspects and then analyzed each site by incorporating new geophysical survey data with years’ worth of existing datasets, and both new and existing survey and mapping data. Evaluation and comparison of the datasets garnered both expected and unexpected information. Each site, while unique, was similar. Comparisons were recognized in terms of layout and organizational characteristics, resource availability and access, structural design, groupings, and shape, visible and invisible signs of social disparity, and visible and invisible indications of shared traditions which were then connected to modern populations through ethnographic correlates. This type of information is available not only from the sites chosen for this research endeavor, but also from a number of sites across the realm of the ancient Maya. The utilization of such datasets shows how minimal investigation and limited information can be used to analyze, contextualize, and compare sites, and allow for comparisons and connections to be made across regions and time periods connecting the past and the present through the identification and analysis of the visible and the invisible patterns.
In archaeology, geophysical methods had been applied usually in a qualitative form, limited only to the use of filters that enhance the data display. The main objective in this work is the implementation of an integral geophysical study complemented by 3D modelling techniques that allowed us to reconstruct the geometry and depth of buried bodies in the archaeological site of Los Teteles de Ocotitla, in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico. The distribution and shape of underlying archaeological remains were inferred by geophysical methods and corroborated by archaeological excavations. Highresolution magnetic, ground penetrating radar and electric prospection were carried out in selected terraces. This investigation demonstrates the potential of quantitative geophysical methods for the characterisation of archaeological structures, in extension and depth
GIS and Landscape Archaeology: A Case of Study in the Argentine Pampas
2013
The aim of this paper is to present GIS methodology applied to a landscape archaeological research of hunter-gatherer societies in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Some theoretical remarks about space representations are mentioned; and Argentine archaeological cases using GIS approaches are briefly cited. The research strategy followed in our landscape archaeology study is detailed and the materials are described. We highlight the importance of GIS tools for the different steps of the research process: for the preparation of fieldwork, for laboratory questions and resolution of problems and for the presentation of results.
Archaeological surveys and excavations carried out in two areas of the municipality of Cañamero (Cáceres, Spain) have revealed the presence of significant Middle Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages. This paper contextualizes the site at a regional scale and presents its chronological evolution over time, accounting for the different post-depositional processes. To do so, different techniques and methodologies have been implemented, including archaeology, geomorphology, and GIS analysis. The aim is to understand the genesis and evolution of these kinds of Middle Palaeolithic settlements and to characterize them in contemporary soils.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017
In the following paper we formulate an interpretation about how the space was managed inside a classic ‘Fortin’, a sort of small fort, which was located in the Argentinean Pampas during the 1860–1870's period. We review the main features of these sites, like the nature of its structures and buildings or the quick abandonment of military positions due to the advancing process in the frontier. As a case study, Fortin Otamendi site is a large area (> 2600 sq. m) divided in several sectors where we had detected and confirmed different scatterings of heterogeneous archaeological remains (e.g. fauna, lithics, metals, glasses…), both in the site and its proximities. Analytical steps in this research on spatial distributions have been developed from free GIS platform (QGIS) and geostatistical methods. Our aims are to establish an efficient fieldwork, to quantify and characterize spatial distributions, and –according the results obtained–, to solve the problem related with building po...
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.