Academic Article
Time as a Hidden Dimension in Archaeological Information Systems: Spatial Analysis Within and Without the Geographic Framework
- Title
- Time as a Hidden Dimension in Archaeological Information Systems: Spatial Analysis Within and Without the Geographic Framework
- Creator(s)
- Šmejda, Ladislav
- Date
- 2009
- Language
- eng
- Abstract
- Time is an indispensable element in most archaeological studies. However, GIS models cannot easily accommodate various issues raising from the specifics of archaeological dating. The formation processes and post-depositional transformations that have affected the present nature of the archaeological record must be assessed prior to designing any GIS project in archaeology. This paper highlights some issues emanating from this matter for a GIS user and introduces an approach that may enrich the current spectrum of spatial techniques in archaeology. The traditional intra-site spatial analysis based on the concept of geographical space is complemented with new experiments, where the spatial investigation is understood more broadly. An attempt is made to map a multidimensional formal space in GIS, which has its coordinate system defined by the proncipal component factor analysis conducted on mortuary data. The exposition demonstrates that GIS can successfully model many archaeological phenomena, be they primarily geographic or not. The key idea here is that GIS tools are able to analyze general problems including those not related to geography, on the condition that they can be translated into models of spatial nature (e.g. some formal topological model).
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