Articles by Ian Johnson

2008 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Mapping the fourth dimension: a ten year retrospective

Ian Johnson

Abstract

This article reviews some approaches to spatio-temporal modeling and visualization techniques developed over the last decade as part of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) and the TimeMap project. Heurist, an academic social bookmarking application developed by the Archaeological Computing Laboratory (ACL) at the University of Sydney over the past three years, inherits much of this work, and moves beyond in modeling networks of relationships between events, providing a capable infrastructure for developing spatio-temporal visualizations of historical data. It handles a full range of structured bibliographic records and provides a rich, expansible set of database record types, controlled data entry forms, record linking and a wide variety of search and output capabilities, including maps and timelines. As for the future, the challenge is to develop methods of visualization which combine the simple, intuitive nature of a timeline with the essential relatedness of historical events, while also representing their spatial location. Incorporating such visualizations into a pedagogical approach to history can be used to enrich museums and classroom teaching.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2008, 19, 31-44; doi: 10.19282/ac.19.2008.03

1998 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

GIS applications in Australian and New Zealand archaeology - A review

Ian Johnson

Abstract

This paper discusses the way in which GIS applications have flourished in Australia and New Zealand through a combination of high levels of computer ownership, environmental awareness and the scale of the landscape relative to population. The paper covers administrative applications such as site registers; traditional landscape based research applications of GIS; and recent attempts to apply GIS to off-site archaeology and distributions of artefacts on a micro-topographic scale. The critical effects of data availability and the use of GPS are discussed, as well as research into extending GIS or desktop mapping to cope with chronological change. The paper concludes by looking at ways in which the use of GIS can be encouraged within the wider archaeological community, the importance of sharing digital map data and some ideas on future directions in the application of GIS within Australian and New Zealand archaeology.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 81-126; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.06