Portfolio

This portfolio presents most of the projects completed during coursework for the Graduate Certificate in GIS for Archaeology at the University of West Florida.  These courses included Cartography, Introduction to GIS, Remote Sensing, GIS for Archaeology, and Special Topics in Archaeology.  It also includes a project begun during the final semester, Spring 2017, when I worked as an intern at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts.  I created an Esri Story Tour based on a logbook of a voyage taken by Horatio Hathaway from New York to China and back in 1850-1851. This project is ongoing.

A link to my portfolio can be found here, and a short video explaining my favorite project can be found here.  The Story Tour, although incomplete, can be viewed here.

Creating this portfolio required me to reflect back on how far I've come and how much I've learned over the past two years.  The maps show steady progress in my GIS skills and abilities, and the variety of topics and purposes for which these maps were made is quite impressive, looking back.  I feel like I have accomplished what I set out to learn and more.  I also realize where my strengths and weaknesses exist as they relate to GIS.  Overall, the process of creating the portfolio has left me feeling proud and hopeful that I can get meaningful, satisfying work in this field in the future.

Mapping the History of New Bedford

Printed historic maps have been used in the past to answer questions about social, environmental, and political dynamics within a regional landscape.  

This study uses GIS analysis to begin to identify and understand changes in political, social, and economic life that took place between the post-War of 1812 economic boom tied to the whaling industry, and the peak of manufacturing in New Bedford, MA.   Several families, including the Kemptons, Rotches, Rodmans, Hathaways, Russells, Allens, and Morgans, were prominent during the early development of the city.  Their influences in terms of land and business ownership shaped the political, social, and economic landscape.  Free African-Americans and immigrants from the Azores and Cape Verde Islands working on the waterfront and in the whaling industry shaped New Bedford as well.  As the industrial base shifted from whaling to manufacturing, and as the city expanded in terms of population, ethnic diversity, and physical size, one would expect to see the development social and spatial boundaries between those who owned property and were successful in the initial establishment and later growth of the city into a whaling and commercial capital, and those who settled later as the city expanded to the north and south.  The GIS analysis presented here shows where and how these boundaries developed. 

By 1815 a social, political and industrial center has been established, dominated by those who owned valuable waterfront property and businesses related to whaling and shipping.  The 1850 map shows many of the Registered Historic Sites clustered north of the city center, several blocks away from the waterfront.  These were built during the heyday of whaling and shipping and illustrate the prosperity and growth the city was experiencing.  Many of these are modest one-family homes, not businesses or mansions built by those involved in whaling and commerce.  Those were being built, in smaller numbers, to the south of the center and close to County Street at the top of the hill overlooking the busy harbor.  Two mills had been built by 1850, but housing was not yet being built specifically to accommodate mill workers.  The environmental context here relates to the developing social inequality in New Bedford, as those with lower incomes settle in areas away from the center. 

Central business district showing the establishment of several prominent families as dominant property holders.

The first mill is built, whaling is in decline.

 The housing boom that can be seen in both the 1871 and 1891 maps reflects the increase in population between 1850 and 1920 as immigrants came to work in the mills.

Urban growth to the north and south of the city's commercial center, and to the west of County St.

The 1891 map in particular shows clusters of identical rows of housing built near the Wamsutta and Howland Mills complexes.  As foreign-born workers arrived in greater numbers, social differences increased.  By 1911 it is possible to see this clearly when analyzing the surnames of property owners in various neighborhoods. Properties closer to industrial areas, in particular mills and other factories, show an abundance of surnames that reflect the immigrant make-up of these parts of the city.   By 1900, over 40% of New Bedford’s population was foreign born, the majority being Portuguese, Azorian, and Cape Verdean.  Other immigrant groups included French-Canadians, Irish, and English.  Property along County Street, and still to some extent in the downtown center, is still very much dominated by surnames from the past whaling and commercial era.  This is an example of the political landscape “constantly being defined and redefined to further accentuate the social boundaries that underlie ideologies of political order” (Kosiba 2013). 

Growth in mill housing construction.

1911: Near-peak manufacturing production

1911: Pattern of land ownership for elite families

1911: Housing in the Wamsutta Mills area, inset showing highway construction in 1960's and 1970's.

The city of New Bedford has a rich and colorful history which should continue to be preserved and celebrated.  Several organizations are committed to this mission, including the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE).  GIS analysis of historic maps can be extremely valuable in supporting it.  Research that focuses on the diverse aspects of urban development spreads the focus of preservation efforts to include the history of all social groups, not just those who are most often credited with the city’s establishment and success in whaling and commerce.  Ultimately this will help ensure that the entire picture of New Bedford’s development is represented in preservation efforts. 

The findings of this study reveal patterns of settlement in New Bedford as it transformed from a small village to a center of manufacturing.  By investigating the demographic makeup of the people living here at different points in history, and considering the ways in which the political landscape shapes social differences, a more complete understanding of the complexities of urban development here can occur. 

Classified Images

These two images of the same area reflect two types of classification - the top one is Unsupervised, where ArcGIS classifies the land cover based on a selected number of land types, in this case 8.  It creates its own signature first, then does the classification.  As you can see, there are errors and overlaps in the land types, and it is not very accurate.

The second image shows a Supervised classification, where I created signatures for 5 different land cover types based on 30 points spread out to capture the land types most accurately, especially in the area of the Cahokia Monk's Mound.  I also used only 5 classes.  Clearly this was much more accurate and effective.  The Unsupervised classification is a good starting point, but it is important to further refine that information for accuracy.

3D Map Models

This week's lab gave us a taste of what is one of the coolest new ways of visualizing archaeological data, in my opinion - 3D models.

The first task was to create a 3D box representing the study area.  Then points representing shovel test pits were extruded upwards into "poles" with 3 different colored sections, each representing the depth of that layer in that particular test pit.  Then rasters were created from the data, and an interpolated surface resulted, showing each layer as a continuous surface with elevation based on the original point data.

A third task was to do a fly-through of the 3D scene showing the extruded test pits.  Here is a link to the video.  Clearly I am not a fantastic pilot - more practice is necessary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFUhG8E3kM0


The last task involved taking a series of points representing the path of a proposed pipeline that would cut across the study area, and extruding them to show the levels of each layer at each point in the cross section/proposed path.  For some reason the shapefile with the elevations did not have z values, so I wasn't able to extrude the points and complete this part.

3D Map Models

This week's lab gave us a taste of what is one of the coolest new ways of visualizing archaeological data, in my opinion - 3D models.

The first task was to create a 3D box representing the study area.  Then points representing shovel test pits were extruded upwards into "poles" with 3 different colored sections, each representing the depth of that layer in that particular test pit.  Then rasters were created from the data, and an interpolated surface resulted, showing each layer as a continuous surface with elevation based on the original point data.

A third task was to do a fly-through of the 3D scene showing the extruded test pits.  Here is a link to the video.  Clearly I am not a fantastic pilot - more practice is necessary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ5vKog3rx4

The last task involved taking a series of points representing the path of a proposed pipeline that would cut across the study area, and extruding them to show the levels of each layer at each point in the cross section/proposed path.  For some reason the shapefile with the elevations did not have z values, so I wasn't able to extrude the points and complete this part.

Surface Interpolation

Above are several examples of ways in which surface data can be visualized to see patterns in settlement in a region.  In this case, points connected to data on artifact numbers and population estimates were used to show where communities were located in the past.  By looking at these patterns, one can infer the level of local and inter-community communication in past societies.  

Oaxaca Survey Grids - Georeferencing and Digitizing

  






































Paper maps and documents are often the primary sources of historical data and site reports.  This week we focused on how to take this type of data and incorporate it into ArcMap documents.  Being able to view and examine landscape data in this way is an important new method for analysis and interpretation in settlement pattern studies.

Maps and site data from a published report of a survey done in Oaxaca, Mexico were available as scanned files in .pdg format.  The maps were made into jpegs and then georeferenced to a topographic basemap.  Then they were digitized: grid squares, soil maps, and site plan maps.  By combining these map layers, archaeologists can make inferences about settlement patterns and how these relate to environmental conditions.

The last step involved joining data in an Excel spreadsheet from the site report with the newly created shapefiles showing the sites in each grid.  In this case, the resulting data shows the low population figures for the period IIIB sites in grid N9E8,

Looking at this map, it is difficult to make a guess about whether or not population size was a function of land type, since only 3 sites are involved.

Georectifying James Cook's 1785 Map of Macao

Historical maps can be fantastic sources of information, but they are rarely accurate enough to layer over current images without going through the process of georeferencing and rectifying.  This map shows a georectified map of Macao in 1785 layered over a recent image.

To do this, there must be at least 2 layers, and control points are added between the historic map and the modern one, using points that can be identified on both maps.  In this lab, we also added a topographic map to better identify specific locations.  As more points are added, the historic map shifts in location so that the 2 maps line up as much as possible.  In this case, 10 points were added before the map was rectified using a type of sampling called Cubic Convolution, which is used for data like images and photographs.

The purpose here is to highlight the changes in landscape and environment over time.  Other data can be examined using this method, such as population trends and settlement patterns. It can be used at a variety of scales, from neighborhoods and cities, to larger regions.

GIS Methods for Incorporating Historic Records and Documents

Historic records and documents can be incorporated into GIS maps, which is incredibly useful for examining and interpreting the past. The example above combines information from a variety of sources - a historic map from the 1890's-1920's, a user-created map of the Freedom Trail from ArcGIS Online, census data, an image, and informational text.  In addition, hyperlinks were created so that when the user clicks on Paul Revere's House using the Hyperlink tool, they can access the census and see the image.  An HTML pop-up was added to the map, so when you open the link it takes the user to the Google Maps Street View scene in front of the house.  It's easy to see how much information can be pulled together this way.

This is a phenomenal tool for organizing, visualizing, and interpreting a huge variety of historical data. Even more can be learned from using it in tandem with data in other fields.  Readings this week focused on two methods for using these methods to identify and document sites that were threatened, and to prioritize urgency and inform policy decisions.  In Peru, aerial photographs from the 1940's and Google Earth images spanning more recent years were used to document looting, and to identify additional cemeteries.  It will continue to be used to monitor sites and to help policy makers decide how to manage the resources to prevent more looting.  In Georgia, GIS methods were used to determine what areas were threatened by erosion, what sites existed there, and which ones were most at risk.  These are just two examples.  The potential for these methods of analysis in archaeology is limitless.

Mapping Jordanian Archaeological Sites

This map of Jordanian Archaeological Sites was made by creating a new file database, opening a new map document, adding a basemap, and creating points to show the location of sites.  The site of Petra was created by creating a new feature class and adding fields for lat/long and notes describing the site.  After the shapefile was added to the map, it was opened for editing so that the lat/long and description information could be manually added.  To do this, you can either click to add the point to the map, or you can enter the "absolute XY"  in decimal degrees.  This is fine if you only have a limited number of features. Another way, better for large numbers of features, is to add points by importing the coordinates from an Excel file. Location information found using the META website was added to the database, and then a new feature class was created from the XY table of the Excel spreadsheet. The output was a new feature class of archaeological sites, saved to my geodatabase and added to the map as a new layer.

Many of the sites shown here have been heavily looted and damaged.  To help reduce these incidents, a system was set up to provide information about the location and current status of each site.  The database, called the Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities(MEGA), is open-source, and uses Google Earth for imagery, so it is free and user-friendly.  There is even training available.  Users are granted varying degrees of access - Guests have limited query access, and at the top end, Administrators have the ability to add to and edit the information.  By allowing such open access, the greatest number of people can be involved in helping to preserve archaeological resources.  Logistically, it is much more readily updated than if information was gathered by field survey or using aerial photography, both of which are slower and also more expensive methods.

The benefits of having such open access must be weighed against the risks of having the data available to people who may misuse it.  Site locations are seen in the map above, and published material is often quite specific about not only location, but also the numbers and types of material remains which could become the object of looting.  

Decisions about granting public access to data is guided by ethical principles adopted by archaeological organizations including the SAA, AAA, AIA, RPA and SHA that state the responsibilities to the profession, the stakeholders, and the integrity and preservation of resources.   These ethical standards are helpful as archaeologists try to balance the different points of view of various stakeholders who may be working with a different set of ethical standards and goals.

Using Clip and Query to Examine and Interpret Historical Data

 

This lab focused on using the clip and query functions in ArcMap to answer questions about the Chicago Fire of 1871 - where it started, the extent of the fire's destruction, the direction the fire travelled and where the wind was coming from, and how Chicago grew after the fire in terms of geographic expansion, the building of new landmarks, and the restructuring of some of the wards, especially in the fire zone. 

 

Another useful skill we learned this week was how to take an Excel file with Lat./Long. information for all the landmarks in the Chicago area, and create a new shapefile showing their locations as points on the map. That file can then be used to select for various attributes, such as address or year built.

 

More data is available within these layers that would be useful to answer different questions - clearly these tools will be very useful in many situations.