Archaeology and Geomatics

Digital technologies have numerous applications in archaeology ranging from the documentation of the archaeological evidence and the analysis of research data to the presentation of results for a wider audience. This volume consists of various studies on the use of methods such as LiDAR (light detection and ranging), archaeological prospection, visibility, mobility and the analysis of the spatial distribution of archaeological objects, applied in various contexts. The case studies vary widely and include the Late Pleistocene in the Northern Iberian Peninsula, the Roman Republican period in Southern Italy, the Formative period in the Andes and the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.In 2005 a (then) pioneering postgraduate course on the applicability of digital geospatial technologies for archaeology was launched in Spain. Quite unexpectedly, the course has been alive annually for more than 10 years so far, having trained around 300 young archaeologists from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America in the critical use of nowadays popular tools such as GIS, GPS, remote sensing and LiDAR for the documentation and analysis of the archaeological record.To commemorate the first 10 years of the course, a conference was organized in Mérida (Spain) in October 2015. Former students were invited to present and discuss their research in which these technologies were used intensively; this edited book is a selection of those contributions. Through a series of widely varying case-studies, both technically sophisticated and theoretically informed applications of such digital technologies are presented.All the contributors are young researchers, either young doctors or doctorate students, coming from fairly varied archaeological contexts and approaches.Contents:IntroductionUnboxing the black box. Lessons learnt from ten years of teaching geospatial technologies to archaeologists.by Victorino Mayoral Herrera, César Parcero-Oubiña and Pastor Fábrega-ÁlvarezSection 1. Shapes and locations. Documenting and characterizing the archaeological recordPursuing ancient rural life through surface survey: composition and diversity of artifact distributions.by Luis Antonio Sevillano PereaExperiments on Roman surface scatters through digital survey methods: study cases from Odra-Pisuerga region, (Burgos, Spain).by Jesús García SánchezScope and limitations of airborne LiDAR technology for the detection and analysis of Roman military settlements in Northwest Iberia.by José Manuel Costa García and João FonteMaking Visible the Invisible: Low Cost Methodologies for the Study of Ancient Carvings.by Miguel Carrero-Pazos, Benito Vilas-Estévez and Alia Vázquez-MartínezSection 2. Tools and methods. Procedural approachesMethods for the evaluation of the visualization of archaeological sitesby Pablo Paniego DíazLandscapes on the move. Digitally exploring the relationship between megaliths and mobility in Northern Cáceres (Spain).by Jose M. Señorán MartínThe answer is blowing in the wind: a method to measure wind-protection as a criterion for settlement in the past.by Marcos García GarcíaSection 3. Patterns, behaviour, decisions. Analysing the archaeological evidenceApplication of GIS to flint management studies during the Pleistocene to Holocene transition: the case of Baltzola (Dima, Bizkaia, Spain).by Maite García-Rojas, Alejandro Prieto, Aitor Sánchez, Cristina Camarero and Lydia ZapataThe Archaeology of Rock Art as Archaeology of the Mediterranean Landscape.by María Sebatián LópezBuilding landscapes: a landform approach for the Iron Age sites in the Upper Duero River.by Raquel Liceras-Garrido, Enrique Cerrillo-Cuenca and Alfredo Jimeno-MartínezGIS contribution to the analysis of the distribution of Roman caves between the Ebro River and the Pyrenees.by Leticia Tobalina Pulido, Benoît Pace and Alain CampoThe potential of the Geographic Information Techniques for the analysis of the morphology and settlement patterns of the Roman military sites of early imperial era in Iberia.by José Manuel Costa-GarcíaCentering Tafí: A political approach to the landscape of a Southern Andes Formative community.by Jordi A. López LilloLandscapes of War. GIS applications in the study of the Spanish Civil War.by Manuel Antonio Franco Fernández and Pedro Rodríguez SimónSection 4. Archaeology and the public. Disseminating to a wider audienceGeographic Information Systems: an effective tool for the management of the Cultural Heritage of Cantabria.by Gustavo Sanz PalomeraA map for Gondar. Cartographic system for the touristic development of the Amhara Region (Ethiopia)by Cristina Charro Lobato, Eduardo Martín Agúndez and Agustín Cabria RamosDiscussion and commentsby Martijn van Leusen