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Abstract
Using ArcView for Estimating Volume at Stratigraphically Complex Archaeological Sites
Track: Ecology, Archaeology, and Conservation
Author(s): Mark S Aldenderfer, Nathan M. Craig
This paper describes techniques for recording the vertical dimension of stratigraphically complex multicomponent archaeological deposits during excavation using GIS. We focus on the use of total stations in conjunction with ArcView GIS 3.2 for the creation of accurate surface models of excavated cultural and natural layers and their integration into an intrasite GIS. This data can be used to compute accurate volume estimates of these levels and refine our understanding of artifact distributions so as to develop more comprehensive reconstructions of the activities of ancient peoples than can be achieved using more traditional archaeological field recording techniques.
Mark S Aldenderfer
UC Santa Barbara
Department of Anthropology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Goleta, CA 93106
USA
Phone: (805) 893-2257
E-mail: aldender@sscf.ucsb.edu