Geography Matters

We often think of archaeologists as standing beside a dusty ruin, hunched over a screen, sifting through dirt searching for tools, pottery, bones, and other artifacts from an ancient civilization.

But archaeologists also do a lot of computer work, including using geographic information system (GIS) technology to map their finds, analyze what they found and where, and construct databases to keep track of collections. They also employ the computing power of GIS to create 3D models of excavations and map where undiscovered archaeological sites might be located.

Some pioneering researchers began to adopt GIS for archaeology in the 1980s, including those who attempted to do predictive modeling of where prehistoric settlements might be found based on factors such as elevation, soil type, and water sources. For example, Dr. Ken Kvamme, now a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas, collected site location information and landscape variables that were associated with where these sites were found. He obtained some digital elevation models (DEMs) of the area where he was working and started creating models that showed sites tend to occur on one land form more than another. Growth in the use of GIS for predictive modeling showed promise in the 1980s and early 1990s, but good data was hard to come by.

Read Ken Kvamme's article about how GIS is used to create predictive models of archaeological sites.

GIS in archaeology was more widely adopted in the 1990s, driven mainly by the need of state agencies, cities, or provinces to manage site location information. Historic preservation legislation was enacted, resulting in developers hiring archaeologists to check sites for historic significance before building roads, laying pipes, or doing other work. The need to manage all of the site and survey location data that this generates drove many states to develop archaeological GISs, such as AZSITE in Arizona.

With improvements in computing power and display and output technology, GIS became more powerful and easier to use. The invention of global positioning systems plus more sophisticated remote and geophysical sensing tools, better satellite imagery, and higher resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) provided archaeologists with better data, too.

Learn more about how GIS gives archaeologists the tools to create 3D models of excavations.