Volumes / Journal / 34.1 / Bilotti

Balancing between biases and interpretation. A predictive model of prehistoric Scania, Sweden

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.1, 225-236; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.1.2023.25

Abstract

Southern Sweden, and especially the area around Malmo in southwestern Scania, is perhaps one of the most archaeologically investigated areas in the world. Our knowledge of the local Prehistory has greatly increased in the past decades although it is also the product of centuries of agricultural practices, urban expansion and a relatively early (18th-19th c.) interest for prehistoric monuments (e.g. burial mounds and megaliths). However, despite the deluging amount of available information (over 50,000 ancient sites recorded in Scania), their distribution is not homogeneous and archaeologists are restlessly trying to explain this pattern and its underlying causes. In addition, post-depositional factors (infrastructure works, agricultural practices, etc.) heavily affect site distribution and preservation, blurring the global interpretation. The aim of this paper is to reduce the impact of post-depositional factors on our interpretations on site distribution. In addition, the results can be used as a starting point for further and more elaborate analyses (spatial statistics and simulations). All the models presented here were computed in a reproducible way, relying on FOSS and open data only, in order to allow anyone interested to replicate the model and adapt it to their own purposes and study regions.