Archeological Gis

A team of earth scientists conducted a series of exploratory transects across the summit of Eratosthenes Seamount in 2010 and 2012 to better understand the geologic structure of this unique flat-topped feature in the East Mediterranean Sea. and optical imaging systems. The researchers could instantaneously communicate with archaeologists on shore by utilizing a high bandwidth satellite system on the E/V Nautilus. This system allowed researchers and archaeologists to better take advantage of this series of discoveries. The data collected during these field seasons, presented and discussed in this article, contributes to existing literature on the maritime traffic patterns of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, and of open-sea travel over the underwater plateau from 800 BC— 800 AD.

This paper provides the first results of the new research project focused on the territory of Selvena (a medieval castle in southern Tuscany). The main difference between the new research and the old one is the perspective on the landscape as well as on the castle. We opted for a re-evaluation of the previous results starting from the still standing architecture. But we also started a new excavation outside the upper plateau where we detected a late and post-medieval sequence, whose complexity is encouraging for further research. The second main difference with the old project is the timeline that spans from the Protohistory to the 20th century CE. In the field activity this produced a stimulating coop- eration between prehistorians and medieval archaeologists. This led to emphasize more the continuities in the landscape rather than the breaks. The new timeline encouraged to link the present situation with postmedieval sources and maps, as well as material records on the field. Two intriguing sites (Monte Civitella and Monte Penna) proved to be more linked to Selvena than we previously thought. They also provide evidence of protohistoric funerary and possibly ritual places.

The investigated area was characterized by a great diversity of vegetation. Wetlands were occupied by riparian forests, and in some places by alder forests or small grass communities. The slopes and the moraine plateau were covered by beech forests with admixture of other tree species, while dry sandy hills were grown by coniferous forests. Woodlands provided building and fuel material, and after some adaptation (burning the forest floor and undergrowth) they were used as areas of less intensive grazing, hunting and gathering.
Nutritional needs of the community were met in a variety of ways, combining the use of products derived from crops and livestock, wild plants and possibly wild animals. Excavations carried out at Mozów, site 23 and at other settlements dating to the seventh and eighth centuries have not yielded many faunal remains. Few finds of animal bones, mostly cattle and small ruminants, only confirm the results of pollen analysis indicating the presence of open plant communities which were used as pastures. In the sediments of the discussed layer dating to the beginnings of the Middle Ages disappear heather Calluna vulgaris and common bracken Pteridiumaqilinum, which are the species characteristic mostly of forest communities and peat lands. In addition, after a long absence returns the occurrence of sorrel pollen grains Rumex, typeacetosa/acetosella, the plant associated with grazing. Slightly later appears plantain Plantagolanceolata, which is the indicator of a similar value. Furthermore, the sediments dating to the beginning of the early medieval phase contained rye pollen grains Secale and a single pollen of other grains cerealia, as well as nitrophilous ruderal plants of the goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae. The period after the probable time of functioning of Mozów settlement is characterised by the occurrence of stronger indicators of anthropogenic impact, including mugwort Artemisia, nettle Urtica, or weeds of cereal crops - cornflower Centaureacyanus. Their presence is probably related to younger settlement dated from the ninth to the tenth century, represented by numerous remains recovered in the area of Sulechów and the village of Kije (where two strongholds dated to the same period existed at that time), or at Zawady, site 1.
The occurrence of pollen grains and weeds is the direct evidence of human activity. Although few in number, they point towards people’s presence and penetration of surrounding areas. The transformations described above, as well as the changes in the proportion of particular ecosystems indicate the initial phase of anthropogenic impact on the environment, the process which continues uninterrupted until today.
The settlement discovered at Mozów, site 23 is one of the most comprehensively excavated remains of occupation from the older phases of the Early Middle Ages in the Middle Odra region. In the studied period also two other settlements functioned in Mozów-Sulechów microregion: Sulechów, site 14, which was similar in size to Mozów, site 23, and a slightly smaller one, known as Sulechów, site 10. A relatively high density of occupation indicates that the second half of the seventh century at the latest was already the period of stable settlement structures of a permanent character in the region.
Further development of this and other similar settlement clusters in the area enabled probably the emergence in the second half of the ninth century of many heavily fortified strongholds which served the role of central points for small tribal communities.
The study of the early medieval site at Mozów has provided new data on possible ways of the organization of space within the settlement in the older phases of the Early Middle Ages. Spatial structure of the site, reconstructed on the basis of recovered relics, was strongly influenced by local topography, which has analogies in other nearby well recognized settlements, e.g. Sulechów, site 10 or Jordanowo, site 7.

Archaeology, like several other disciplines studying the physical landscape, is inherently about three-dimensional data; that is, about physical objects and volumes and their associated properties. Yet our records of this 3D reality have traditionally perforce been reduced to two dimensions, restricting the subsequent analysis to 2D, or at most 2.5D, as well. GIS have been the tools typically used to manage and analyse these 2D/2.5D spatial data sets since the early 1990s. Within the last decade, technological developments in data capture (such as laser scanning and image based modelling) have begun to generate large quantities of 3D data, giving rise to '3D' as the new buzzword. However, such data can be visually inspected but not spatially analysed in this form. We believe that what is lacking is a software infrastructure that can encompass both 'traditional' 2D and 'new' 3D archaeological data in the same 3D environment, and can allow for analysis in three dimensions. We propose here to construct such an infrastructure from pre-existing FOSS4G components, and to create a number of additional bespoke query and report functions in order to achieve the functionality required by archaeological researchers.

The first and foremost task of archaeological heritage protection is the spatial identification of archaeological sites. Our study proposes the introduction of predictive archaeological models in Hungary based on studies involving the known Hungarian site register. These could mean extensive tools, already available at the initial planning phase of the construction works, by which the preliminary protection of national sites can be secured.

This session continues ongoing discussion of the changes that are happening in archaeological field prospection today, specifically further development of GNSS that helps to navigate in the landscape, and the possibility to bring your GIS into the field via Mobile GIS. During the session, we will continue prior discussion of the contemporary role of Mobile GIS in archaeological field prospection. The aim of the session is a critical discussion about new tools used in the field, supported by examples/case studies presented by the participants. This session will also incorporate a broader discussion of contemporary methodology of field surveying. We need to get to know and use past examples. We also need to establish a common approach to field survey method, which would allow our datasets to be comparable. Encouraged by new tools, applications, and a developing GPS precision, we believe that the introduction of Mobile GIS, and particularly applications available on smartphones, require a deeper reflection on good practice in field data collection. Since field surveying is deeply rooted in British archaeology and already has well-established guidelines on field data collection, this session aims to continue and enlarge the discussion. This session invites short 10 minute presentations, followed by 5-minute discussions. The session will conclude with a roundtable discussion about tools and methods we use in field prospection, how they have changed and are changing currently, influencing our methods before, during and after survey.

The interpretation of an archeological site requires controlled data collection and recordation to preserve the context lost during the excavation process. Both archeologists and geoarcheologists record not only the spatial location of an artifact, but how it is spatially oriented in relation to other cultural remains and geomorphological contexts. This allows researchers to better understand how the artifact arrived in its present location and the sequence of anthropogenic, geomorphic, environmental events since original deposition. Excavations have traditionally been documented using field notes, sketch maps, floor plans, and photography. The development of inexpensive and easy-to-use technologies like GPS, GIS and digital photography make it possible to extract and preserve greater quantities of higher resolution data from excavations. Combining these tools with low/no cost software such as GRASS GIS, MeshLab, CloudCompare, and VisualSFM allows archeologists to use prior photography and/or newly collected photographs to generate high-resolution point clouds and textured meshes.  Point clouds and textured meshes can be merged into existing digital data such as LiDAR point clouds and raster DEMs. Here I present an application of these methods to the 2012 archeological excavations at the Vosburg site (21FA02), a Late Prehistoric Native American village on the Blue Earth River Valley, Southern Minnesota, ca. A.D. 1050-1250. Photogrammetric techniques were applied to excavation photographs to create a high-resolution point cloud. This point cloud was then georectified and merged into existing LiDAR (LAS) point data resulting in a vertically and horizontally accurate representation of the soil stratigraphy and archeological features uncovered during excavations.

The Augusta Insula Project focuses on the Croatian island
of Lastovo. These investigations are part of ongoing
archaeological and interdisciplinary research in the
southern Dalmatian archipelago conducted under the aegis
of the Korčula Archaeological Research Group (KARG).
The multinational team for the 2001, 2003, and 2007 field
campaigns consisted of archaeologists and geologists
from Croatia, Switzerland, the United States, and the
United Kingdom. Field studies focus on the application of
heritage management practices pertinent to the island’s
archaeological and historical resources. The first season’s
research consisted of preliminary bibliographic studies
and field survey, while the second field season consisted
of limited subsurface archaeological testing at the localities
of Kaštel and Lučica. The third season focused on a more
intensive field survey, informant interviews, and data
collection. A GIS data base has been developed to examine
the inter-relationships of the sites, and their relationships
to the regional prehistoric and protohistoric coastal marine
setting. The project is similar in scope to the Adriatic Island
Project. Eventually, a joint data-base (including Sušac and
Pelješac Peninsula) will enable the study of a large group
of islands. Such a common data collection approach would
be unique to Mediterranean archaeological research.