GIS and Detection of Areas with Archaeological Potential, the Iron Age in the NW of Portugal

• Type: National Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2012

Authors

Costa, António (Author) FLUP

Publisher

Universidade do Porto

Porto

Conference National

Investigação Jovem na Universidade do Porto

Porto, 17 a 19 de Fevereiro

Scientific classification

FOS: Humanities > Other humanities

CORDIS: Technological sciences > Technology > Remote sensing ; Social sciences > Geography

Other information

Abstract (EN): The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as an aid for identifying areas with archaeological potential is used since the 80's in Canada and the United States by several departments of cultural management[1]. We analyzed the physical and topographical characteristics (independent variables) of 99 archaeological sites from the Iron Age (dependent variables) taken from a universe of 198 archaeological sites in order to know their characteristics. To analyze the studied area territory were also examined physical and topographical constraints of 120 sites that do not coincide with any archaeological site known (called non-sites). It was used goodness-of-fit tests (Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney), between the 99 archaeological sites and 120 non-sites, to exam 14 physical and topographical variables in order to select which do not have statistical significance, thus were excluded 6 variables[2]. With the remaining 8 physical and topographical constraints it was produced a predictive model for locating potential archaeological sites of the Iron Age. For the development of the predictive model it was used, a statistic method called binary logistic regression[3]. This method, applied with GIS is able to produce a map of prediction of Iron Age archaeological areas with values ranging between 0 and 1(see Image 1). Defining the optimal value of detection it was created a map locating 97.5% of the archaeological sites of our studied universe and get an index gain of 0.95 (on a scale from -1 to 1)[4]. In this way the GIS is assumed as a good tool to assist the planning by helping the definition of potential archaeological areas. References: [1] D. Wheatley and M. Gillings, Spatial Technology and Archaeology. London: Taylor & Francis, 2002. [2] K. M. Cunningham, "Site Suitability Analysis of Stone Circle Sites in McKenzie County, North Dakota, at Site 32MZSWC," Resource Analysis, vol. 10, p. 11, 2008. [3] R. E. Warren and D. L. Asch, "A Predictive Model of Archaeological Site Location in the Eastern Prairie Peninsula," in Practical applications of GIS for archaeologists: a predictive modeling kit, T. Francis, Ed., ed Philadelphia, 2005, pp. 6 - 36. [4] K. Kvamme, Quantifying the Present and Predicting the Past. Colorado: U.S Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management, 1998.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 1