Based on former research (http://undine-lieberwirth.info) it was the aim of the project A-III-6 to further develop the potential of 3D GIS (Geographical Information Systems) applications in post-excavation analysis in archaeology. In special, we focused on the development and application of spatial statistics in the 3D space.
For this reason, the question of data acquisition was very fundamental. Hence, the methodology applied on excavation needed a strong bias towards quantitative data. We hence tested in the first part of the project, the data acquisition, the usefulness and sensitivity of quantitative data acquisition on site. In order to get an unbiased approach to the data, we tested the same acquisition methodology on two different excavation sites, disregarding period and region. The first test sample was taken at Hornsburg/Austria in 2009 – a Neolithic Ring Ditch, the second at Ostia Antica/Italy in 2011 – a city from the Late Roman Period. The latter can be accessed via TOPOI WebGIS. The map represents a short overview via historical maps (see “Topographic Maps’ with the kind permission of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) about landscape formation processes even in recent years. The “Vector data’ describe recent land use and environmental data. Finally, the “hillshade’ as well as the “Relief’ gives an impression about topography and elevation in the vicinity. The second part gets down to the problems of 3D data analysis.
The intension of the project was not only to improve documentation and analysis of archaeological stratigraphy but also helps to differentiate archaeological layers by using quantified information.
We wanted furthermore prove that modern excavation technique and technology can on the one hand storage and administrate large amounts of data and on the other hand to analyze them even at excavation site for verification and optimization of the excavation method applied.
The focus on all methods applied here lies on methods financially affordable respectively applications developed under the GNU license or OS standards.