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Module description

This course builds on ARCL0094: GIS in Archaeology and History to provide students with a theoretical grounding and practical experience in advanced uses of Geographic Informations Systems for landscape and environmental archaeology. There is a strong emphasis on the manipulation of raster data and we consider landscape geomorphometry, viewshed analysis, cost surface analysis and hydrology, as well as 2.5D and 3D landscapes, and Internet GIS. We make considerable use of Open Source software, particularly GRASS GIS, as well as other specialist software such as Landserf. The course is taught using a combination of lectures, practical sessions and tutorials in the Institute’s AGIS laboratory. There is an emphasis on comparative analysis of different algorithms and software implementations, as well as a strong concern with how such techniques might be applied to solve substantive archaeological problems. This course would particularly benefit those who wish to use GIS primarily in an analytical capacity. Students who wish to take this course must have already taken ARCL0094: GIS in Archaeology and History. Exceptions are only made for those with significant previous experience of GIS in the workplace or who can demonstrate equivalent knowledge. In addition, students who have not taken ARCL0160: Archaeological Data Science may be asked to take an extra class providing an introduction to scripting using the Python programming language in order to help them prepare for one of the assessments.

Module aims

The course aims to provide:

• an extended consideration of some of the topics that students will have learned in the pre-requisite module GIS in Archaeology and History;

• a theoretical grounding and practical experience in more advanced uses of geographical information systems for archaeological purposes;

• an advanced understanding of how to manipulate raster data

• a familiarity with advanced open source GIS and related software.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students should:

• have become familiar with negotiating a range of software that varies significantly in terms of interface and functionality;

• have an enhanced ability to select the most appropriate technical tools to answer a given substantive research question;

• have an enhanced understanding that, as with many other computer applications, the ‘data’ stored and manipulated in a GIS, constitutes a model rather than a direct representation of reality

• understand and be able to perform a range of point and spatial operations;

• understand and be able to compute measures of landscape structure;

• understand and be able to perform hydrological analysis

• understand and be able to perform cost surface analysis;

• understand and be able to perform various forms of viewshed analysis;

• be able to write Python scripts to undertake iterative analysis;

• implement simple webserving of GIS data

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