A critique of G.I.S. in archaeology. From visual seduction to spatial analysis

Joan A. Barceló, Maria Pallarés

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 313-326

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the role of Geographical Information Systems in archaeological research. Currently, some archaeologists seem largely captivated by new computing technologies believing that the sophistication of powerful software outputs will lend respectability by itself. In our opinion GIS is merely a set of techniques to visualise and manage large amounts of georeferenced data. Thus, there must be other tools to move from visualisation to explanation, which fall within the domain of Spatial Analysis. The ultimate aim of this paper is to show how we can integrate these already existing tools (geostatistics, intra-site statistical tests, digital image processing, artificial intelligence, etc.) into a GIS framework, in order to move from beautiful images to hard analysis. Finally, we criticise the lack of a theoretical background in archaeological uses of GIS technology, arguing that GIS is only a software and may benefit our research only if we use well defined archaeological problems on a well-based theory.

Preview