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Table of Contents | Background
& Objective | Contributors
Spatially Integrated Social Science: Chapter 17
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18 >
Time,
Space, and Archaeological Landscapes: Establishing Connections
in the First Millennium BC
Patrick Daly and
Gary Lock
Abstract
This chapter describes the integration of spatial technologies
into the theory and practice of landscape archaeology. Using
the long-term fieldwork of the Hillforts of the Ridgeway Project
(Oxfordshire, England) as a vehicle, we show how recent theoretical
approaches aimed at understanding the temporal and spatial
structuration of sites and landscape can be formalised through
the use of GIS. The Project area comprises a series of different
sorts of prehistoric sites which excavation has shown to span
most of the first millennium BC although differing phases
of use and significance for each site create a complex web
of connections through time and space. The methodologies developed
here are based on a multi-scalar approach so that different
sorts of data representing different scales of social practice
can be incorporated into the analyses. Ranging from individual
artefacts within layers of cultural deposition within features,
to complex arrangements between features within sites and
landscapes, GIS functionality can be used to establish connections
and suggest meaningful structuring in new and powerful ways.
This moves traditional post-excavation analysis away from
the site specific and situates it within a more holistic landscape
approach.
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