Predictive Modeling

This is a predictive modeling exercise that I completed for my Archaeology GIS class.  I used a DEM datafile downloaded from the USGS to create several elevation related files such as Aspect, Slope, and Contours, and reclassified them to give the lower regions more weight.  I then created the weighted overlay map above to show what areas on the map might have a better chance of containing archaeological artifacts or settlement activity.  The dark green areas have the highest chance, while the red shows higher elevation and a much lower chance.

UWF Final Project in GIS Special Topics in Archaeology

Searching for Optimal Dig Sites for the Cartersville, Georgia Area

and Locations Near the Etowah Indian Mounds.

 

This is a Digital Elevation Model of an area north of Atlanta in Georgia, showing the Etowah Indian Mounds in the Cartersville area.

 

A closer view of the same DEM.

 

This is a closer still view of the same area.

 

An even closer view of the dig sites and Etowah Indian Mounds.

 

I used a basemap of the Cartersville, GA area which includes the Etowah Indian Mounds Park to create this map.

 Another view of the Indian Mounds area, but including the Dabbs Archaeological Dig Site that was used in a field school this semester at Kennesaw State University.

This map includes some labeling of some of the sites.

I created an extreme closeup of the Dabbs Dig Site (worked at KSU this semester), and digitized the separate dig pits created.  We found a good deal of finely broken pottery pieces, quartzite, and chert in these sites, but also a few larger pottery pieces dating possibly as far back as the Middle Woodlands period.

 I digitized a smaller study area within the DEM I am using for this project.

Here is the resulting clip of the DEM using the study area I created to form a more suitable size map.

At this point I created a contour model of the study area utilizing ArcMap, with a 300 meter interval.

I reclassed the clipped DEM that I was using to try and find better locations for finding future dig sites.

This is a much closer in view of the same reclassification area of the clipped DEM.

Another view showing the Dabbs Dig Sites in addition to the Indian Mounds.

In order to study how slopes related to possible settlement areas, I created an aspect chart to find out how they related to geographical directions.

I tested a theory that it might be preferable for settlements to face in a southward direction in order to get more sun by reclassifying the aspect map created above.

At this point I created a slope chart of the surrounding study area in order to gain an idea of how steep the terrain is and if this mattered to the Native Americans when creating settlements.

This is a close-up of the same slope map above.

I reclassified the slope map to get a better idea of how the terrain influenced settlement building.

This is a closer in view of the same reclassified slope area.

This is a historical chart of the Georgia and Alabama area from the Civil War period.

Here is another historical chart from the same time period.

This is a close-up of the Etowah Indian Mounds area of the same historical map used above.

Using the reclassified slope and aspect maps created earlier, I created a weighted overlay of the study area.

This is a closer in view of the same weighted overlay created above.

An even closer view of the weighted overlay.

Here is an extreme close-up view of the weighted overlay of just the Dabbs Dig Sites.

This is an extreme close-up view of the Etowah Indian Mounds utilizing the weighted overlay.

 

 

 

Weighted Overlay for Shipwreck Discoveries in Biscayne Bay, Florida.

This assignment had us create a weighted overlay of possible unknown shipwreck locations in Biscayne Bay, Florida.  This can help to provide a higher probability of finding wrecks without wasting too much time in the process.

Reclassified Benthic and Bathymetric Data for Biscayne Bay, Florida

As we looked for potential areas in Biscayne Bay to find further, undiscovered shipwrecks, we used reclassified data from existing Benthic bottom files, and depths from Bathymetric files to define them.

Benthic Data for Shipwrecks in Biscayne Bay, Florida

We used existing Benthic data to more closely define a 300 meter area around some known shipwrecks in Biscayne Bay, Florida in order to see if there are any similarities or anomalies. 

Biscayne Bay Shipwreck Charts

Biscayne Bay National Park in South Florida is totally underwater, and created to protect the many types of sealife in the area along with the preservation of many shipwrecks that sank on the coral keys or islands in the bay.  Without this protection, these sites would soon disappear.  I've used current and historical charts which include bottom material types and depths.

Tuekta Sycthian Burial Mounds, Reclassified Data

This week's lab was about taking several different landscape features and reclassifying them to create secondary coverages from previously created primary coverages.  We can use this data to show how the burial mounds related to their surrounding environment, such as elevation, aspect, slope, and contours.

Tuekta Scythian Archaeological Mounds in Russia

Our GIS Topics in Archaeology class completed a very interesting lab this week about the Scythian people of Russia, who created burial mounds long ago in this region.  We used data from the government satellites to locate mountain peaks, valleys, and everything in between to get a nice 3D effect, but we also used close up images of the actual mounds viewed from satellites to create a zoomed in image.  This area does not have a lot of data available, as one might think considering it's deep in the heart of Russia, but what we did find and use was more than adequate.

The Scythian people roamed the steppes and mountains of this area for thousands of years, and they left much archaeological evidence of how they lived and some of their culture.  They are a very interesting people, and you may want to read up on them.

This is week number two for UWF Special Topics in GIS Archaeology, and again it was very interesting!  We basically are using satellite images from Landsat in order to refine the terrain features located below with the end result of locating hidden Mayan ruins or pyramids.  It is very technical work, but will be beneficial in the end and can be used to find sites all over the world.

We created different map documents using the "image analysis" feature of ArcMap, which basically takes different "bands" of the color spectrum and combines them in various ways in order to benefit from their specialties.  The human eye can only see in 3 spectrums, but there are many other wavelengths that can help us to see through obstacles such as darkness, clouds, or haze.  Also, changing up the colors can help us contrast certain features of the jungle that might have been changed by falling plaster, building collapse, etc.  This is a relatively recent extension of GIS and archaeology due to better satellites and commercial data that has become available for analysis.  In the last several years many sites have been found or located because of this technology.

This is my first GIS class online at the University of West Florida, so I'm just learning about all the requirements.  I'm taking GIS 4990, Special Topics in Archaeology this fall semester.

For our first assignment, we used both vector and raster datasets to identify and drill down on the location of "La Danta", the largest pyramid in the world by volume, which is located in Guatemala and discovered in 2009.  We used the various bands of the Landsat satellite to try and find an image that would show the vegetation and surroundings of the pyramid in question more clearly.  The visible colors are in the first 3 bands, 1 - 3.  Band 4 starts getting into the infrared area that humans can't see, and the higher up along the band scale you go it gets into SWIR and IR, or Short wave infrared and infrared.  This was a very interesting assignment, and I look forward to learning more about the processes involved.

Welcome!

Hi everyone, this is my new blog for University of West Florida GIS assignments, welcome!