Bective Abbey, 15th of July 2011 OPEN SOURCE GIS FOR IRISH ARCHAEOLOGY How to produce “clever” maps Gianmarco Cattari www.you-gis.com

INTRODUCTION

From Mortimer Wheeler’s time... Maps are and have always been a fundamental part of archaeology. Maps are an interpretation of the footprints of ancient civilization which are carved into the present landscape. Before computers were invented maps were made by hand using: or and INTRODUCTION www.you-gis.com

...to Google Earth’s time Today we use computers and the internet to produce archaeological maps. “But what technology and what software will I use in order to produce my archaeological map?” INTRODUCTION www.you-gis.com

Commercial versus Free Software Software can be classified into two main categories depending on the usage license: Commercial Software Open Source Software INTRODUCTION www.you-gis.com

The meaning of Open Source Software Open Source software is released under the GNU license. Find out more about it at www.gnu.org. One of the most popular of these is the General Public License (GPL). Open Source software is developed by a very active world wide community of volunteer developers who work hard in order to improve the software’s capabilities. Open source softwares are commonly known because they are FREE, but what does free mean exactly? INTRODUCTION www.you-gis.com

What is free software? “Free software” is a matter of freedom, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.” More precisely it means that the program users have the four essential freedoms: The freedom to run the program for any purpose. The freedom to study how the program works and to change as you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor. The freedom to distribute copies of your modified version to others. By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes.

Types of software… Capacity of using graphic symbols and colour schemes. Geo-referenced working space using geographic coordinates Merged graphics, attributes and statistics Software classification by technical specification: INTRODUCTION www.you-gis.com

Types of software Data compatibiliy with web mapping (see Google Maps) Raw data can be stored into databases Data can be queried and filtered by complex SQL operations Software classification by technical specification: INTRODUCTION www.you-gis.com

What’s “clever” mapping? www.you-gis.com INTRODUCTION A “clever” map is a combination of data formats: vector files (lines, points and polygons) ortho photos Google images tables statistics images (jpg, png, bmp ecc) geo-referenced images Through GIS we produce these type of maps

What’s “clever” mapping? www.you-gis.com INTRODUCTION A “clever” map is also made with spatial analyses operations such as: buffering distance analysis density analysis digital terrain model construction reconstruction of ancient landscape distribution analysis visibility analysis pathway cost analysis

What’s “clever” mapping? www.you-gis.com INTRODUCTION With “clever” mapping raw spatial data can be: stored into a remote database and get worldwide and password protected access linked into an excavation recording database queried and filtered through SQL operations published on the internet with Web GIS uploaded into Google Earth/Maps uploaded onto any GPS device

GIS = Geographic Information System A Geographic Information System (GIS) is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and present all types of geographically referenced data. In the simplest terms, GIS is the merging of cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology. GIS may be used in archaeology, geography, cartography, remote sensing, land surveying, public utility management, natural resource management, precision agriculture, photogrammetry, urban planning, emergency management, environmental contamination, landscape architecture, navigation, aerial video and localized search engines. INTRODUCTION www.you-gis.com

Types of Maps in Archaeology

Site Excavation Map Site excavation maps TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY www.you-gis.com

Site Excavation Map with Photos www.you-gis.com TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Site Excavation Map (Close up) TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY www.you-gis.com

Site Location Map TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY www.you-gis.com

Site Location Map related to specific road project TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY www.you-gis.com

Site Location Map related to two specific projects TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY www.you-gis.com

Site distribution map on hillshade/slope www.you-gis.com Red dots represent Neolithic tombs in Sardinia (Italy) Yellow circles highlight two settlement patterns preferring high slope ground Lack of settlement on low slope/upland ground (centre of image) TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

www.you-gis.com TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Pathway cost analyses map for Dolmen www.you-gis.com TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY THESE TYPE OF MAPS ARE USED FOR CALCULATING THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO OR MORE POINTS Blue dots represents Neolithic Dolmen in Sardinia (Italy) Red line represents the quickest way to cross the region from SE to NW Dolmen are located near rivers which could have been the main roadways on high slope ground

The Viewshed Map TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY www.you-gis.com These maps show you which areas are/aren’t visible from a specific point on the ground. They are very useful for sites which have an important role in visual landscape control (ringfort, castles, castle motte, towers etc...)

The Visibility Maps Types of Maps in Archaeology www.you-gis.com

Archaeological Map on Digital Terrain Model www.you-gis.com TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY Thematic Maps: Geology and archaeological site locations www.you-gis.com

Thematic maps: Soils and archaeological site location map Types of Maps in Archaeology www.you-gis.com

RMP map TYPES OF MAPS IN ARCHAEOLOGY www.you-gis.com

Proposed archaeological monitoring Types of Maps in Archaeology www.you-gis.com

Work in progress screenshots

Digitising an archaeological site map www.you-gis.com WORK IN PROGRESS SCREENSHOTS

City map using free data from Open Street Map and Google images www.you-gis.com WORK IN PROGRESS SCREENSHOTS Connection established with home remote database. Files stored in the database.

Landscape map of Wexford and Waterford region on Digital Terrain Model (DTM) - Vertical Exageration Factor 5 - WORK IN PROGRESS SCREENSHOTS www.you-gis.com Digital Terrain Model built using contours data available to download for free from internet (raw data only)

Kilkenny on Google Images and Digital Terrain Model (DTM) Vertical Exageration Factor 6 www.you-gis.com Google Images available for free using relative plug in. WORK IN PROGRESS SCREENSHOTS

Creating 3D model WORK IN PROGRESS SCREENSHOTS www.you-gis.com

37 Final Goal: Web Mapping Publication of project at broader scale on the Internet using interactive interface

Final Goal: Web Mapping Publication of excavation project on the Internet using interactive interface Zoom Slider www.you-gis.com WORK IN PROGRESS SCREENSHOTS

...shortly www.you-gis.com

...for your attention Acknowledgement Thanks to Geraldine and Matthew Stout for hosting the lecture at Bective Abbey Maps courtesy of Irish Archaeological Field School, IAFS www.you-gis.com