http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6386-5293
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ABSTRACT
The use of archaeological survey data for evaluation of landscape dynamics has commonly been concerned with the distribution of settlements and changes in number of recorded sites over time. Here we present a new quantitative approach to survey-based legacy data, which allows further assessments of the spatial configuration of possible land-use areas. Utilizing data from an intensive archaeological survey in the Berbati-Limnes area, Greece, we demonstrate how GIS-based kernel density estimations (KDE) can be used to produce cluster-based density surfaces that may be linked to past land-use strategies. By relating density surfaces to elevation and slope, it is also possible to quantify shifts in the use of specific environments on a regional scale, allowing us to model and visualize land-use dynamics over time. In this respect, the approach provides more multifaceted information to be drawn from archaeological legacy data, providing an extended platform for research on human-environment interactions.
Acknowledgments
The methods of GIS-based KDE described in the current study was developed and carried out within the framework of the Domesticated Landscapes of the Peloponnese (DoLP) Project hosted at the Department at Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University and generously funded by the Swedish Research Council (Grant #421-2014-1181). The project has an interdisciplinary scope and the aim is to investigate long-term human-environment interactions in the Peloponnese, from the Neolithic until the 4th century a.d. The initial plotting of georeferenced site data was originally carried out by Emanuel Savini within the framework of the 1999 Mastos Survey directed by Berit Wells. We are also grateful towards the Greek National Cadastre and Mapping Agency, Ktimatologio, for providing us with high resolution DEM data of the Peloponnese (Copyright © 2012 NATIONAL CADASTRE & MAPPING AGENCY S. A.). We are further grateful for the comments provided by the three anonymous reviewers, who provided good input for improving the original manuscript. Any mistakes or idiosyncrasies remain our own.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on Contributors
Anton Bonnier (Ph.D. 2010, Stockholm University) is a researcher at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University. He is a classical archaeologist and ancient historian focusing on landscape archaeology, GIS, and digital applications in archaeology, as well as the economic and environmental history of Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman Greece. He is heading the GIS and database development section of the Domesticated Landscapes of the Peloponnese (DoLP) project.
Martin Finné (Ph.D. 2014, Stockholm University) is a researcher at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University. His main research focus is on Holocene climate in the eastern Mediterranean and the paleoclimatology and socio-environmental dynamics of southern mainland Greece. He is heading the paleoclimate section of the Domesticated Landscapes of the Peloponnese (DoLP) project.
Erika Weiberg (Ph.D. 2007, Uppsala University) is a researcher at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University. She is an Aegean prehistorian with a research focus on landscape and settlement archaeology of mainland Greece, including studies of socio-politically transformative periods and human–environment–climate dynamics, among other things. She is PI of the Domesticated Landscapes of the Peloponnese (DoLP) project, which seeks to integrate archaeology and history with the paleoenvironmental records from the region and take as such an active part in the development of new methods for fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration.
ORCID
Anton Bonnier http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6386-5293
Martin Finné http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7433-268X
Erika Weiberg http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6583-387X