Anthropology 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Global Positioning System, Satellite Imagery, Arroux
25 Nov 2016
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Thursday, March 19, 2015
How and why do archaeologists map sites?
How do archaeologists map sites?
Survey vs. Excavation
•Survey
-Aims: location sites (often starting from nothing, so you have to find the sites)
-Investigating Sites without large scale excavation
•Provides a limited degree of information about a large area:
-All of the info is from things we see on the ground that are visible
-How man sites?
-How old are they? (sometimes only seeing most recent occupations of artifacts,
older items are further in the ground)
•Mapping/Recording:
-Used to carry old topographic maps
-Aerial photograph
-Still using maps but using them in an electronic format
-Hand held GPS device
-Topographic maps, GPS (global positioning system)
•Google earth
-Accuracy is getting better and better
-Degree of longitude and latitude
•Excavation
-Aims: detailed investigation of subsurface features
•Provides a great deal of info about a small area
!1
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Thursday, March 19, 2015
-How was the space used? At a certain time of the year, or for a certain
occupation, special purpose
-Who used the spaces? Was a whole community using every single space, were
there areas where kids weren’t allowed or people with a certain social status
-How did they change over time?
•Mapping/Recording:
-Fixed point and measure everything based on that
-Datum**
-How far east or south of that point etc. on a grid
-Datum and grid, differential GPS
How archaeologists find sites?
Archaeological Survey
•Don’t have resources to cover entire area, so we need a sample
•Sampling Startegies
-Judemental or targeted sampling
•Where we rely on our previous experience where we are likely to find sites
•Variety of terrain in area of image provided
-Probabilistic or random sampling
•Drape an imaginary grid across are to organize space
•Assign a number to each grid at random
•Survey Techniques
-Non-invasive:
•Do not disturb the ground surface
•Local knowledge (talk to them)
•Farming lands in Ontario
!2
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Aims: location sites (often starting from nothing, so you have to nd the sites) Investigating sites without large scale excavation: provides a limited degree of information about a large area: All of the info is from things we see on the ground that are visible. How old are they? (sometimes only seeing most recent occupations of artifacts, older items are further in the ground: mapping/recording: Still using maps but using them in an electronic format. Topographic maps, gps (global positioning system: google earth. Degree of longitude and latitude: excavation. Aims: detailed investigation of subsurface features: provides a great deal of info about a small area. At a certain time of the year, or for a certain occupation, special purpose. Was a whole community using every single space, were there areas where kids weren"t allowed or people with a certain social status. How did they change over time: mapping/recording: Fixed point and measure everything based on that.
