Interpreting prehistoric landscape: journeys in time and space
Corinne Roughley (Archaeology, Cambridge)
GIS provides an important tool for the recording, storage, analysis and presentation of much of the data that landscape archaeologists work with. The ability to integrate different data sources is key to understanding past landscapes, allowing us to consider aspects such as topography, geology, artefact distributions, monuments, and also the impact of modern land-use within a single framework. Historical records of features now destroyed can be considered together with modern data. Patterns can emerge from this integrated approach which were not noticed by looking at the paper record due to the complexity of the data or even simply the abundance of the archaeological material.
However, whilst maps are an integral part of landscape archaeology, people in the past did not experience landscapes through studying maps. Visualisation software provides a complementary approach, allowing the viewer to be situated within the landscape rather than considering it from above. Important new insights into past landscapes can be obtained which are impossible to reach through fieldwork alone due to modern land-use.
