GIS in Archaeology

Vector & Raster based analysis

Data Description Information
This homework assignment will build off the previous homework assignments where we mapped the distribution of sites in the Basin of Mexico, and digitized the agricultural land types for the area.. Open your previous homework assignment map or recreate that map document here.

1.Create a separate data sets for each of the major time periods – Formative, Classic, Toltec, and Azted.

2. For each major time period create a data table that summarizes the number of sites found on the different land classes. Save these data tables with appropriate names and send me a copy of the data in each of these summary tables (you can either send me the dbase files or you can cut and paste the data into another format such as Microsoft Word).

3. Use the data from Step 2 to create Column Charts that displays the distribution of sites across the different time periods.

4. Calculate the distribution of the different land classes across the survey region as a whole, and create a column chart that displays this distribution.

5. Compare the column charts created in steps 3 & 4 to describe the degree to which sites in each time period are, or are not, seeming to preferentially locate themselves with respect to the land classes.

6. For each time period, use the Zonal statistics function of the spatial analyst to identify the elevation of sites. Add a new Short Integer field to these tables called Elevation and fill it with the elevation of the site. Remove all the other extraneous fields from the tables (e.g. OID, Count, Area, Min, Max, Range, etc.) so that you are left with tables that just list the site number and the elevation.

7. To each of the data tables created in Step 6. add a new Short Integer field called Elev100M. Calculate the nearest 100M elevation zone of each site by dividing the elevation by 100 (e.g. a site with the value 1137 for elevation will get a value of 11 in the, a site with elevation 1292 will get a value of 13, etc.)

8. Create summary tables and then column charts that display the distribution of sites by the nearest 100M elevation. As in step 2, send a copy of the data in these tables to me.

9. Use the column graphs created in Step 8 to analyze the elevation distribution of sites through time (by comparing the Formative, Classic, Toltec and Postclassic). Describe the degree to which Site elevations remain similar or change through time.