Skip to content

CH6 GIS

Jump to bottom
Gabriel Bodard edited this page Mar 5, 2021 · 28 revisions

Sunoikisis Digital Cultural Heritage, Spring 2021

Session 6. Geographic Information Systems

Thursday Feb 25, 16:00 UK = 17:00 CET

Convenors: Piraye Hacıgüzeller (University of Antwerp), Rebecca Seifried (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/VNrPdG4sRgc

Slides: Combined slides (PDF)

Session outline

In this session we will introduce the basic concepts and building blocks of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), such as vector and raster data structures, attribute and spatial data, layering, and coordinate reference systems. We will then introduce GIS-based visibility analysis used to calculate visibility of places from one or more observer points, followed by a hands-on case study on the topic using the free QGIS tool. Finally we will give an introduction to cost functions frequently used in GIS-based cost distance analysis to analyse mobility across built environments and landscapes, accompanied with a case study from the literature.

Seminar readings

For discussion in this thread

  • Seifried, R.M. and C.A.M. Gardner. 2019. "Reconstructing historical journeys with least-cost analysis: Colonel William Leake in the Mani Peninsula, Greece." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 24:391-411. Pre-print available: https://works.bepress.com/rebecca-seifried/11/
  • Turchetto, J. and G. Salemi. 2017. “Hide and Seek. Roads, Lookouts and Directional Visibility Cones in Central Anatolia.” Open Archaeology 3:69-82. Available: https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2017-0004

Further Reading

  • Conolly, J. & Lake, M. (2006). Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
  • Donaldson, C., I.N. Gregory, and J.E. Taylor. 2017. "Locating the beautiful, picturesque, sublime and majestic: spatially analysing the application of aesthetic terminology in descriptions of the English Lake District." Journal of Historical Geography 56:43-60. Available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305748817300178
  • Field, S., C. Heitman, and H. Richards-Rissetto. 2019. “A Least Cost Analysis: Correlative Modeling of the Chaco Regional Road System.” Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology 2(1):136-150. Available: https://doi.org/10.5334/jcaa.36
  • Gillings, Mark and Wheatley, David W. (2020) GIS-based visibility analysis. In, Gillings, Hacıguzeller and Lock (eds.) Archaeological Spatial Analysis: a Methodological Guide. Routledge, pp. 313-332.
  • Gillings, M. 2012. “Landscape Phenomenology, GIS and the Role of Affordance.” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 19, 601–611.
  • Güimil-Fariña, A. & Parcero-Oubiña, C. 2015. “‘Dotting the joins’: a non-reconstructive use of Least Cost Paths to approach ancient roads. The case of the Roman roads in the NW Iberian Peninsula.” Journal of Archaeological Science, 54, pp. 31-44.
  • Herzog, I. 2020. “Spatial Analysis Based on Cost Functions.” In Gillings, Hacıguzeller and Lock (eds.) Archaeological Spatial Analysis: a Methodological Guide. Routledge, pp. 333-358.
  • Knippers, R. 2009. "Introduction: Geometric Aspects of Mapping". Available: https://kartoweb.itc.nl/geometrics/
  • Llobera, M. 2003. “Extending GIS-based visual analysis: the concept of visualscapes.” International Journal of Geographical Information Science 17:1, 25-48.
  • Lock, G., M. Kormann, and J. Pouncett. 2014. “Visibility and Movement: Towards a GIS-Based Integrated Approach.” In Computational Approaches to the Study of Movement in Archaeology, edited by S. Polla and P. Verhagen, 23–42. De Gruyter, Berlin. Available: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110288384.23
  • Murrieta-Flores, P., C. Donaldson, and I. Gregory. 2017. “GIS and Literary History: Advancing Digital Humanities research through the Spatial Analysis of historical travel writing and topographical literature.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 11. Available: http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/11/1/000283/000283.html
  • Posluschny, A.G. 2010. "Over the Hills and Far Away? Cost Surface Based Models of Prehistoric Settlement Hinterlands." In: Frischer, B., J. Webb Crawford, and D. Koller (eds.) Making History Interactive. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA). Proceedings of the 37th International Conference, Williamsburg, Virginia, United States of America, March 22-26 2009. BAR International Series S2079. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 313-319. Available: http://proceedings.caaconference.org/files/2009/38_Posluschny_CAA2009.pdf
  • Rayne, L., J. Bradbury, D. Mattingly, G. Philip, R. Bewley, and A. Wilson. 2017. "From Above and on the Ground: Geospatial Methods for Recording Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa." Geosciences 7(4):100. Available: https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences7040100
  • Weiss, C. 2010. "Determining Function of Pompeian Sidewalk Features through GIS Analysis." In: Frischer, B., J. Webb Crawford, and D. Koller (eds.) Making History Interactive. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA). Proceedings of the 37th International Conference, Williamsburg, Virginia, United States of America, March 22-26 2009. BAR International Series S2079. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 363-372. Available: http://proceedings.caaconference.org/files/2009/43_Weiss_CAA2009.pdf

Other resources

Exercise

Use QGIS to model the visibility from cultural heritage sites and export a map (as a .jpg or .pdf) showing your results. Read these instructions to get ready for the exercise, then follow the specific steps outlined in the video. Specifically, we will be using the Visibility Analysis plugin in QGIS to calculate the binary viewshed for select points. We will then experiment with different visualization options for making a map.

Software

Download and install QGIS version 3.16 (long-term release). Next, install the QuickMapServices and Visibility Analysis plugins (see video tutorial for step-by-step instructions).

Data

You will need two datasets for this exercise: (1) a point shapefile containing at least three places, and (2) an elevation raster that covers the same extent as your shapefile.

  • Option 1: Download the example dataset, which contains the point locations of three early modern fortresses in the southern Peloponnese. If you need an application to unzip a compressed file, you can download the free 7-zip tool.
  • Option 2: You are welcome to use your own point data from a related exercise or project. Make sure the point data is converted to shapefile format so that it can be used in QGIS. You will also need to download an elevation raster for the area where you will calculate the viewsheds. One free source is 30-meter resolution SRTM data, which you can search for using the USGS Earth Explorer Tool.

(If you have any technical problems with this exercise, you may ask for help in this forum thread)

Clone this wiki locally