Naslov
Can computational modeling aid archaeological surveys in mountainous landscapes?

Autori
Šegvić, Nera

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
4th International Scientific Conference Methodology and Archaeometry, Book of abstracts / Miloglav, Ina - , 2016, 29-29

Skup
4th International Scientific Conference Methodology and Archaeometry

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 01.12.2016. - 02.12.2016

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Podatak o recenziji nije dostupan

Ključne riječi
Archaeological surveys in mountainous landscapes, Applications of least cost analysis, Communication routes, Communal approaches to pastoral economy

Sažetak
Archaeological surveys in mountainous areas are usually accompanied by a specific set of hindrances. Mountainous landscapes are often densely vegetated, uncultivated and/or under-populated areas where archaeological features remain hidden due to intact flora and limited collective memory. Normally, a very detailed survey including large survey teams would be costly and potentially unproductive. Can GIS play a part in archaeological surveys and pinpoint the locations which can be thoroughly surveyed by few archaeologists? Least cost analysis is one of the standard practices of GIS in archaeological research, largely used to model possible historical pathways or site interconnectivity. However, the use of this kind of analysis as a survey method has been less studied. For this reason, a case study was undertaken in the medieval southwest Greenland. The areas colonized by Norse at the end of Viking Age were characterized by the North Atlantic setup of transhumance that a permanently occupied farmstead had a seasonally occupied shieling which enabled the continuation of economic activities during summer. Furthermore, theories suggest the Norse subsistence economy on Greenland manifested itself through an increased level of connection in the community and that a mutual exploit of pastoral resources was undertaken through organised labour involving several farmsteads. This assumption was evaluated in GIS, using least cost analysis, thus building a potential communication network between farmsteads. The communication routes were verified against the positions of known shielings as archaeological evidences of economic pursuits and evaluated for their feasibility during the subsequent field survey. As the field survey resulted with several new ruins along the routes thus confirming the feasibility of the paths and the likelihood of being used by the Norse, these outcomes suggest least cost analysis can have real applications for archaeological surveys in densely covered and remote mountainous landscapes.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Arheologija

POVEZANOST RADA