Archeologia e Calcolatori 9 - 1998

Introduction to the Special Issue.

This paper is an introduction to the IX issue of «Archeologia e Calcolatori», dedicated to GIS in Archaeology. GIS technologies are first put in the context of Computer Science since the sixties. It is shown that the development of GIS results from a general evolution of computer manufacturing towards both multimedia and workstation solutions. The needs of the archaeologist for graphics and GIS are mainly within Rescue Archaeology, large site excavations, regional settlements studies and Cultural Resources Management (CRM). The progress of the use of GIS in Archaeology over the last 10 years has been analysed through 150 projects described in the present volume. It shows the advance of GIS applications in Anglo-Saxon countries (US, UK, Australia), even though in other countries the success of GIS is growing. The survey indicates a global rate of worldwide development of 25% per year. Pilot studies of GIS applications are mainly conducted by research Institutes (70%) and then culture heritage administrations (30%). About 40% of the GIS projects are CRM projects, 25% excavation management projects and 35% regional settlement studies. The computers used are Unix workstations (33%) and PCs (66%). About 40% of GIS users have chosen Arclnfo from Esri, while 50% have chosen low cost software like Maplnfo, Idrisi or Grass. The market for GIS applications in Archaeology seems to be shared between vector packages dedicated to CRM, raster packages dedicated to regional settlement studies, and CAD/CAM packages dedicated to survey and excavation. But progressively, the different packages will be adapted to have all the required functions, including image processing and interfacing with DBMS and statistical packages. Finally, GIS applications in Archaeology are not intrinsically theory oriented, even if environmental determinationism has found within GIS a perfect tool for its needs.

Due to the limited response to the CNR questionnaire on GIS usage in French archaeology, this paper cannot expect to give either the full extent of implementation, nor fully document its impact on this field of research. It has been possible however to extrapolate general trends, and to discuss the development of several projects and undertakings. The most important implementation of GIS is the Ministry of Culture’s nationwide SCALA program for French archaeological survey, and the most comprehensive is the CNRS’s ArchéoDATA Archaeological Information System (AIS). The majority of the smaller projects are in three sectors: regional governmental archaeological offices, the CNRS research laboratories and archaeological field units. As the majority of GIS projects are undertaken by small teams that are looking for flexibility and autonomy, the general trend in hardware/software configurations has been away from elaborate centralised systems and towards micro-computer based installations, with the combination usually being Map Info running on PCs and Macintoshs. Whilst the use of GIS is still not entirely common practice in French archaeology, it is important to note that considerable research is going into innovative ways of implementing GIS concepts in archaeology and that important results can be expected in the years to come.

The growing use and increasing sophistication of GIS methods to manage archaeological data is not related to an increase in diversity of use. After two decades on a trial basis, we evaluate in this paper the current ability of Spanish Archaeological GIS applications to meet the expectations placed upon them, especially concerning their role in archaeological method and theory. The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly, we summarize the main trends in Spanish GIS-based applications over the last years using a sample of the most recent bibliography. Secondly, we critically examine and evaluate the inherent shortcomings of some existing GIS applications, and finally we review different underlying conceptions of space in GIS projects and propose how such a software can be integrated into a proper theory of social space.

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.

Fifteen projects, running in a variety of hardware and software environments, are reviewed from throughout the United States and Mexico; work in other parts of the world by North Americans is also represented. Most applications occur at the regional level and represent either state sponsored archaeological management data bases or research databases. Most employ GIS to manage regional data queries and undertake visualization tasks; others focus more analytically on patterns of prehistoric settlement and land use at the regional level, with predictive models of archaeological location a management expression that relies heavily on research and analysis. Large interest is also shown in comprehensive within-site databases. Remotely sensed satellite data are being employed to construct base maps at the regional level while geophysical information is being incorporated in within-site databases. Although cost-surfaces and viewshed studies receive relatively little focus, there seems to be large interest in multitemporal studies that compare cultural differences and settlement patterns across the fourth dimension. The linkage of GIS with virtual reality and the increasing importance of the World Wide Web point to future directions the technology will take.

There is a great deal of interest in the application of GIS within UK archaeology and, consequently, many varied examples. Rather then attempting the difficult task of itemising these, this paper discusses important themes which are emerging from the maturing understanding and usage of GIS technology within archaeology and more widely. These include issues such as establishing standards and the archiving and accessibility of digital data. It also makes a distinction between Cultural Resource Management and research led application. For each application area, the current position is offered together with discussion of relevant theoretical and practical issues.

The use of GIS in Scandinavian archaeology is still limited. The current survey has revealed 18 projects, of which 12 are full research projects, four are Cultural Resource Management (CRM) projects and two are aimed at developing field methods. Minor projects based on the work of individuals prevail among the research projects, although at least one large-scale project is reported. Three of the four CRM projects are “flagships” for their country (Denmark, Norway and Sweden). The paper takes a critical attitude towards the current development in Scandinavian Archaeology, where an obvious disparity between administrative and research archaeology prevails. The way GIS is applied may be seen as a good example of what this disparity means. Large scale uses of GIS occur in the CRM context, but primarily not with a research aim. Ambitious research projects, on the other hand, are promoted by research institutions, but generally they appear impotent due to a lack of resources. Further, the paper focuses on demands for making GIS a success in archaeological research. Issues discussed here are: active research contributions from CRM units in the future; better access to digital map information for non-profit research projects; education, education and once more education of archaeologists.

The present article is an attempt to emphasise some methodological concerns and evolutionary trends that characterise the use of GIS in Italian archaeological research. The cognitive base to attain this synthesis was offered by the analysis of answers to the questionnaire on “GIS and Archaeology”, that was distributed in the framework of the “Caere Project”, promoted within the more general “Progetto Finalizzato Beni Culturali” of the Italian CNR. The description of the results obtained follows a general definition of GIS and their capabilities. Computerised archaeological projects in which GIS are used nearly cover the entire national territory, from the Valle d’Aosta to Puglia and to the two principal islands. We have also recorded Italian projects that study archaeological areas outside the national limits. In general, there is a rather limited use of GIS in the management of archaeological excavations; in fact, the use of CAD software is more diffused. One of the emerging issues in GIS applications in archaeology is the distinction between projects carried out by institutions dealing with the administration and safeguarding of the national cultural patrimony and those carried out by the academic and research institutes. Cultural Resource Management in Italy is generally connected to the activities carried out by central and regional offices under the direction of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and addressed to the problems of management, safeguarding, maintenance and exploitation of the national patrimony. As for GIS projects carried out in the framework of the research sector, one of the characteristics of Italian studies seems to be the presence of two areas of investigation: the first one pertains to regional studies while the second one is devoted to the study of ancient towns, either abandoned or obscured by modern evidence.

This paper is an attempt at an overview of recent GIS activities in Eastern Europe. The paper is composed of three parts. In the first section organisational characteristics and the historical background of Eastern European archaeology are briefly presented. The second section focuses on current GIS activities in most Central European countries. In the final section, general trends in archaeological GIS research and practice are summarised. In this section some suggestions for improvements through international co-operation are drawn. The paper is followed by the abbreviated results of the replies to the Caere Project questionnaire.

This paper consists of some notes and comments on the use of electronic information systems in archaeology, in the form of stating a number of theses, each followed by an explanation and/or defence. Most of the theses pertain to the relationship among research design, relational database management system and geographical information system. The last section of the paper shortly discusses some projects in which electronic information systems are being used.

The main target of the Sistan Project is the reconstruction of the prehistoric archaeological landscape, beginning from multispectral satellite data. In order to draw a new map (historical, cartographic and geological) of Southern Sistan, a TM image of Landsat 5 satellite was used, with a resolution of 28.5 mt per pixel, including 7 spectral bands. By comparing geological features with the position of archaeological sites in the prehistoric age, and processing this digital data, new information have been obtained and hypothesis proposed for the ancient population of the region. In particular, DTM (Digital Terrain Model) reconstruction, multispectral classification (raster data) and vector integration of data (archaeological sites, terraces, geomorphological features, contour levels), have allowed us to visualise a complex and dynamic model in 3 dimensions. For this aim virtual reality techniques (not immersive) have been used: on a workstation, the user can explore in 3D the landscape model in an interactive way, navigating through the digital data and choosing different perspectives and points of view. Moreover, it was also possible to process at the same time multidimensional information, such as the altimetrical model, unsupervised classification, natural spectral color, different spectral bands, vector data and so on.

In every region of the world there are some areas that assume an important role for cultural change and development of the neighbouring regions. This was the case of the Belice Valley in Sicily: its primary role in cultural change was the product of its long running in North-East/South-West direction that cuts almost all of Sicily from North to South, connecting the Tirrenian Sea with the African Sea. This preliminary study concerns the project “The Belice Valley: early cultural development in the Mediterranean area”, carried out in order to analyse the archaeological landscape on the basis of the socio-economic activities in pre-defined archaic societies. In order to process this complex information, we have started to undertake GIS and remote sensing applications reconstructing 3D models of the valley from macro-scale (territory) to micro-scale (sites). Finally, with virtual interactive navigation through the archaeological landscapes, we have created cognitive models of archaeological information that may hopefully also be useful for planning new archaeological parks.

The paper presents a proposal fir the computer-based management of all the archaeological data produced by the Poggio Imperiale project. It highlights in particular, perhaps for the first time, a complete GIS solution to fit the needs of representing, querying and spatially analysing the features of an excavation. The hypermedia and multidirectional system we have developed provides a programmed user interface linking the interactions between three different applications: a GIS platform (with digital cartography ranging from the whole hill to a single stone of the excavation), a relational alphanumeric DBMS (collecting all the data from fieldwalking to stratigraphical layer records with all the finds) and a media archive (storing pictures, 3D reconstructions, movies, hypermedia products, etc.). The aim is to create a standard in the management of archaeological data.

The aim of this article is the archaeological and analytical study of Iberian amphorae imported into Veneto (Italy) during the Roman period. The characteristic Baetican shapes Dr 8, Dr 11, Dr 12, fragmentary Dr 7-11 and Pompei VII are compared to the Dr 9-10 shapes of uncertain origin (Baetic or Gallic). The determination by X Ray Diffractometry (XRD) of chemicals Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Ti, Mn, Ca, Na and K and of minerals shows the similarity of the pastes of two groups of amphorae. Using appropriate statistical methods, these data are compared to those of Andalusian and Lionese manufactures.

The authors announce a new Electronic Journal completely dedicated to the study of Landscape dynamics. The Journal, called «Evolutions», accepts contributions also of lesser known topics or areas, on the condition that they are treated in a diachronic way. Papers on landscape evolution in periods of transition are specially welcome: Greek/ Roman, Roman/Early Medieval and Medieval, prehistoric /protohistoric and so on. In order to encourage a methodological and thematic exchange as wide as possible, no geographical and cultural limits are imposed. Address: http://www.evoluzioni.com.

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