GIS in the Israel Antiquities Authority: Its Implementation in Archaeological Management of Sites, Surveys and Excavations

Author: Iris Meshulam
Organization: Israel Antiquities Authority

Rockefeller Museum Bldg.
P.O. Box 586
Jerusalem, 91004
Israel

Phone: 972-2-5892286 o
Fax: 972-2-5892238
iris@israntique.org.il

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) GIS is used to manage and support the main daily activities, which include supervision, survey, and excavation of archaeological sites. It comprises 10 layers, the main of which are the archaeological site layer, the cadastre layer, and the GPS database layer. The lecture presents several case studies, which demonstrate the application of GIS for management of excavation and archaeological research.

The field example concerns prehistoric excavation conducted by H. Kahalaily and O. Marder at Abu-Gosh. The excavation data is represented by means of several database tables: flint artifacts, animal bones, and pottery shreds, along with other finds. The finds were geocoded and the maps of artifact distribution were constructed. These maps assisted the archaeologists in their interpretation of the limits of the site, the activity zone, and so on.

The managerial applications of combined GIS/GPS help in defining the exact geographic location of antiquities sites and facilitate archaeological surveys, where GIS is used to produce large-scale maps according to types of sites, periods, geological features, and so forth. GIS was established in the IAA in 1995, and during four years of work it has proved to be a valid and useful tool, which significantly improved our ability to receive, manage, and present rapidly growing archaeological databases.