Rapid On‐site Topographic Mapping with a Handheld Laser Range Finder for a Geoarchaeological Survey in Syria

A digital elevation model and a topographic map of an archaeological site in Syria were created from a field topographic survey with a handheld laser range finder and data post‐processing using a notebook personal computer with Geographical Information System software. The method enabled rapid on‐site topographical mapping even under technical and political restrictions in the country. In an area of about 1 km², coordinates of random points on the land surface were measured, and a DEM with a 10 m interval grid was generated from the point cloud using Kriging interpolation. The DEM enables various topographic representations to be constructed, such as contour lines, cross sections and slope distribution maps. The DEM‐derived contour lines with a 1 m interval were combined with vector data showing roads and buildings to provide a topographic map. Topographic cross sections created from the DEM generally agree with sections surveyed with a hand level and a measurement tape. The obtained DEM and map are useful for preliminary field research.     

Integrating LiDAR data and conventional mapping of the Fort Center site in south-central Florida: A comparative approach

Abstract

Publicly available LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data provide a potential windfall for archaeologists, permitting the creation of detailed topographic site maps with little more than an internet-connected computer and appropriate software. The quality of these LiDAR data for site mapping is variable, however, and may need to be supplemented with data obtained from conventional mapping techniques. We share insights from recent mapping of the Fort Center site (8GL13) in southern Florida. Specifically, we suggest a method—based on trial and error—for integrating LiDAR and total station survey data. We compare the results of our work with previous efforts at mapping the site based solely on conventional archaeological survey methods, as well as with results based on LiDAR data alone. We conclude that our combination of LiDAR data, corrected by conventional survey data, produces the most accurate map.     

Investigation of past archaeological landscapes using remote sensing and GIS: a multi-method case study from Mount Ida,Crete

Spatial analysis in geoarchaeological applications can be improved by implementing a wider set of geoecological parameters, in order to provide more precise results. The aim of the paper is to show how geoscientific ground-truth and techniques can be adopted for detailed archaeological studies using a comprehensive set of environmental variables that might have influenced ancient settlement patterns. The project focuses on spatial patterns of archaeological sites as well as Bronze Age communication paths in Central Crete by applying a multi-method approach (surveying, remote sensing, DEM analysis, least-cost analysis, candidate site detection, predictive modelling, etc.). In contrast to conventional archaeological GIS applications this enhanced strategy offers promising prospects regarding landscape and settlement modelling.     

Creating Ecologically Based Land Use and Habitat Maps Quickly and Cheaply to Support Conservation Planning at Local Scales: A New Zealand Example

Effective planning to support and enhance ecological values in sites of conservation interest requires accurate, comprehensive and detailed ecologically based maps and data, not only for the conservation site but for the wider landscape in which such sites are situated. In this paper we present an efficient and low cost method for combining appropriate technologies and available data to produce such maps at a landscape level. This method is described and evaluated using a case study of a land use and habitat map, with an associated geographic information system (GIS). The map was created for the district of Dunedin, New Zealand, an area of approximately 3340 km². This paper demonstrates how the map can be adapted for use by small, locally based conservation organisations that typically do not have the resources to obtain detailed, consistent and comprehensive spatial data for the areas they manage. The example of Orokonui Ecosanctuary is used to illustrate the potential applications of the map including mapping assets and habitats within a site and for exploring the relationship between the Ecosanctuary's internal and external habitats. External habitats can form a vital habitat network for many of the endangered species being reintroduced into the Ecosanctuary as well as a source of threats through potential reinvasion by pests and land use change. Though the mapping method presented in this paper is not necessarily new, it demonstrates the potential for utilising advances in mapping techniques and available data sets to offer a pragmatic support mechanism of practical value for small conservation organisations.     

Quantifying the Consumption of Obsidian at Neolithic Çatalhöyük,Turkey

Abstract

Archaeological studies of consumption are hampered by the lack of quantified data. New data from the Neolithic site of Catalhiiyiik in Turkey allows the annual consumption of obsidian at the site to be calculated as a minimum of between 116 to 318 kg. The method employed is simple and can be employed at other sites provided appropriate sampling, topographic survey, and dating strategies are implemented.     

A cost surface model of volcanic glass quarrying and exchange in Hawai‘i

The spatial distribution of artifacts from the Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a volcanic glass source (North Kona District, Hawai‘i Island) shows a pattern of direct access by those living in the immediately vicinity of the source with subsequent down-the-line exchange. Most quarrying and exchanges likely occurred within a single day’s travel from sites where artifacts were deposited. The exception to this is the discovery of non-local direct access evident in assemblages from the extreme southern end of Hawai‘i Island; these visits may have involved voyages by canoe. While people did not often travel far for volcanic glass they nonetheless appear to have had unfettered accessed to source material and freely conducted inter-community exchanges. This implies volcanic glass was treated as a common pooled resource and the existence of informal exchange relationships.     

河南省人口分布与乡镇可达性空间耦合特征

人口作为区域发展的内在因素,交通可达性提高将有利于促进人口或劳动力要素的自由流动和优化配置。在考虑土地利用及地形因素的基础上,采用包含乡村道的交通网络数据集,应用改进的成本距离计算方法,分析河南省乡镇可达性及其分布特征;通过乡镇可达性与人口密度的空间叠加,揭示人口分布与可达性的空间耦合特征。结果表明：①各乡镇可达性总体呈现明显的圈层分布,可达性值由内向外逐渐降低;时段越短,内部差异越大,交通指向越明显。②乡镇可达性与人口密度在各时间圈呈现正相关关系,可达性与人口分布集聚产生作用的最大时间距离为1.5h。③人口与交通可达性的空间耦合呈现较明显的半环状分布,社会经济指向性明显。④交通可达性对人口变化的影响具有时间阶段性和区域差异性。     

Archaeological Publications

Abstract

A number of lithic studies over the past several years have indicated that average flake weight (size) appears to be a direct reflection of the ease of lithic procurement, with the greater the distance to the lithic source, the smaller the respective general flake size. Similar high-quality lithic materials from Pot Creek Pueblo and the Cerrita pithouse site of the Taos area of the northern Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico provide an excellent basis for the study of the effects of source distance on the metrical attributes of lithic material due to the wide array of local and nonlocal lithic resources available at varying distances from the two settlements and utilized within them. The analysis indicates that flake thickness and volume (flake length × width × thickness) provide statistically significant linear trends and patterns in relation to respective source material distance. The general flake dimensional-decremental trend with increasing source distance probably reflects smaller lithic parent material sizes with increasing material source distance as well as a lithic technology oriented toward greater material conservation and less technological variability as the distance to the respective lithic material source increases.     

Beyond Tobler’s Hiking Function

Waldo Tobler introduced his hiking function in a little-known article in 1993, as a formal representation of the relationship between topographic gradient and the velocity of an average hiker, with parameters estimated from some previously collected data. Such functions are becoming more useful as apps for route guidance proliferate. Numerous practical issues are raised by any effort to validate these functions empirically. Hiking functions in general allow routes to be measured on various criteria, including travel time, travel distance, or energy consumption, yet, few efforts have been made to calibrate similar functions for other modes of travel, other traveler profiles, and other route criteria. Connected and autonomous vehicles raise the possibility that route choice may take on greater significance in the context of system-wide goals, rather than the current individual self-interest.     

MAPPING NEVER-NEVER LAND: AN EXAMINATION OF PINSON MOUNDS CARTOGRAPHY

Abstract

The well-known map of the Pinson Mounds site published by William Myer in 1922 illustrates numerous earthworks, including 34 mounds and extensive embankments, most of which are not visible today. Researchers have long debated the existence of these features and the accuracy of Myer’s map in general. Using early photographs, topographic maps, gradiometry, and, most important, the 1917 field map upon which the 1922 map was based, it is clear that a number of the mapped features were not visible to Myer and were simply products of his imagination. Furthermore, we provide strong evidence that the Inner Citadel embankment and several associated mounds never existed.     

The technology and significance of the Acheulian giant cores of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov,Israel

The presence of very large lithic artifacts at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov is one of the site’s most distinctive and enlightening features. Basalt giant cores and their products, modified by a variety of core methods and found in association with different hominin activities, occur throughout the stratigraphic sequence of the site.     

We will be known by the tracks we leave behind: Exotic lithic raw materials,mobility and social networking among the Côa Valley foragers (Portugal)

The aim of this study is to establish different socio-cultural models based on lithic raw material sourcing integrated with regional rock art distributions to infer social behaviours within the context of central Iberian Upper Palaeolithic societies. Specifically, we focus on Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherer mobility and social interaction in the Côa Valley. This study relies on a knowledge of regional geology and field work to identify the sources of the lithic raw material found at Côa Valley Upper Palaeolithic sites. We expose the context of use and discard of flint, which is naturally absent from the region, and other local materials. From this, we present a GIS based analysis concerning space, time and least-cost paths travelled. This analysis, along with the environmental data available, forms a baseline to evaluate different anthropological models on hunter–gatherer lithic use, mobility, and social networks. We conclude with a three-level model for social interaction, in the context of aggregation activities between different social meta-groups, which involves embedded procurement, long-distance raw material exchange, and symbolic community, reflected in the largest known open-air Upper Palaeolithic rock art concentration.     

基于机器学习和图像形态学的彩色近代地图数字化——以近代上海地区地表水体信息提取为例

利用科学测绘技术绘制的近代地图作为一类珍贵的历史地理资料,不同程度上反映着过去的地表覆盖情况,数字化则是复原地图所载地表覆盖信息的重要途径。以《华东·上海》地图为例,实现并验证一种基于机器学习和图像形态学的彩色近代地图数字化方法。结果表明,该方法能够充分挖掘地图中的颜色信息和形态结构信息,以半自动方式快速准确地将彩色近代地图中的地表水体信息提取出来。该方法对数字化一类彩色近代地图具有参考价值,有望为精准复原近代以来地表覆盖变迁,深入理解人地关系变化提供数据和方法基础。     

Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence analysis of Haleakalā basalt adze quarry materials, Maui, Hawai‘i

One of Hawai‘i’s major prehistoric basalt adze quarries (SIHP 50-50-11-2510) is located in the summit region of Haleakalā, Maui. Situated at approximately 2750 m above sea level (9000 ft), the quarry shares a similar high-altitude setting with the Mauna Kea adze quarry on Hawai‘i Island. Adding to a growing Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) database for the Hawaiian Islands, we present the results from 255 geological and archaeological lithic samples from the Haleakalā quarry site. We also briefly discuss why this non-destructive XRF technique is particularly applicable in the Hawaiian cultural context.     

Map Resolution and Spatial Autocorrelation

Moran's I, a measure of spatial autocorrelation, is affected by map resolution and map scale. This study uses a geographic information system (GIS) to examine the resolution effects. Empirical distribution of wildland fires in Idyllwild, California, and hypothetical distributions of ordered patterns are analyzed. The results indicate that Moran's I increases systematically with the resolution level. The resolution effects can be summarized by a log-linear function relating the I coefficients to resolution levels. Empirical tests that compare the distribution of fire activity in a vegetation map and in a topographic map confirm the resolution effects observed.     

Ethnoarchaeology and the Organization of Lithic Technology

Although the modern production and use of stone tools is rare, ethnoarchaeological research on this subject has provided important perspectives on methodological approaches to archaeological lithic analysis. Recent ethnoarchaeological research on lithics frequently takes the form of “cautionary tales,” warning against the primacy of functional variables most commonly invoked by lithic analysts. I argue that lithic ethnoarchaeology would benefit from a comparative organizational framework for explaining variation in patterns of stone tool use that takes into account the predictability and redundancy of the location and timing of technological activities. Understanding the underlying causes of modern patterns of stone tool use, in turn, offers a framework for exploring sources of lithic technological variation in the archaeological record. I also argue that technological analytical perspectives, such as the cha?ne opératoire and sequence of reduction approaches, can benefit from the insights gained through lithic ethnoarchaeological research, helping us define important analytical concepts and identify appropriate units of analysis.     

Mapping Sxwóxwiymelh: A Pre-contact Settlement in the Upper Fraser Valley,Southwestern British Columbia

Abstract

Maps and mapping are fundamental to archaeology. Archaeologists sometimes fail to recognize that the maps we use and create are fraught, like material culture, with interpretive complexities. These complexities arise from the fact that maps are created with social meaning dependent on the context in which the map was created and used. Here, we relate our experience with maps and mapmaking at the pithouse settlement of Sxwóxwiymelh, in southwestern British Columbia. We review the mapping history of the site, highlighting the contexts in which the maps were constructed and how they influenced subsequent interpretations of the site. We describe our deconstruction of these earlier maps and how we combined them to create a more accurate and detailed map that presented a rendition of the site as it was prior to significant modern development. This process of map deconstruction and construction allowed us to see several previously unknown details about the ancient settlement (e.g., house form, relative house size, and feature spacing) of Sxwóxwiymelh. In general, this process provides conceptual and practical lessons for incorporating previously collected map data into archaeological research.     

Geoinformation Modeling of Environments Favorable for Prehistoric Humans of the Altai Mountains

Geoinformation technologies are applied to an analysis of the living environments of Paleolithic people, using a territory along the route of a future gas pipeline planned for construction in the Altai Mountains as an example. GIS modeling of a paleoenvironment is based on the notion of a paleolandscape's geological and morphological framework. The SRTM digital model of terrain, and geological maps of scale 1: 200,000 were used. The main factors that control localization of sites have been selected: the presence of flat, even grounds suitable for settlement; proximity to sources of raw materials; good conditions for sun exposure; and water availability across the territory. Verification of known Paleolithic sites showed the adequacy of GIS-modeling and its suitability in the optimal search for new sites.     

Children's daily travel to school in Johannesburg-Soweto,South Africa: geography and school choice in the Birth to Twenty cohort study

This paper has two aims: to explore approaches to the measurement of children's daily travel to school in a context of limited geospatial data availability and to provide data regarding school choice and distance travelled to school in Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa. The paper makes use of data from the Birth to Twenty cohort study (n?=?1428) to explore three different approaches to estimating school choice and travel to school. First, straight-line distance between home and school is calculated. Second, census geography is used to determine whether a child's home and school fall in the same area. Third, distance data are used to determine whether a child attends the nearest school. Each of these approaches highlights a different aspect of mobility, and all provide valuable data. Overall, primary-school-aged children in Soweto-Johannesburg are shown to be travelling substantial distances to school on a daily basis. Over a third travel more than 3 km one way to school, 60% attend schools outside of the suburb in which they live, and only 18% attend their nearest school. These data provide evidence for high levels of school choice in Johannesburg-Soweto, and that families and children are making substantial investments in pursuit of high-quality educational opportunities. Additionally, these data suggest that two patterns of school choice are evident: one pattern involving travel of substantial distances and requiring a higher level of financial investment and a second pattern involving choice between more local schools, requiring less travel and a more limited financial investment.     

Rock type variability and impact fracture formation: working towards a more robust macrofracture method

Investigations into the development of weapon systems are increasingly important in archaeological debates about human evolution and behavioural variability. ‘Diagnostic’ impact fractures are key, but controversial, lines of evidence commonly used in such investigations. In 2009 a series of experiments was initiated to investigate the processes associated with macrofracture formation specifically focussing on the taphonomic factors affecting the formation of ‘diagnostic’ impact fractures (DIFs). This paper adds to that experimental data set with macrofracture results from recent knapping experiments investigating rock type variability and DIF formation. These results show that rock type variation plays less of a role in DIF formation than variables related to use and lithic taphonomy. The collective results of this experimental series show that the location, co-occurrence, type and proximity to retouch on a tool are all important means of distinguishing between weapon and non-weapon related DIFs. Collectively these macrofracture patterns are more important in diagnosing weapon components than any one ‘diagnostic’ impact fracture is alone. Overall, these experimental studies are showing that background ‘noise’ in the form of non-hunting related impact fractures, exists in many macrofracture results and that much work remains in securing the analytical robusticity of the method. The paper concludes that the macrofracture method is not a stand-alone method, but when used with caution and in conjunction with other lines of evidence it is a useful, time-efficient, tool for generating assemblage-level use-trace data.