Advancing Method and Theory in Canadian Spatial Archaeology II: Remote Sensing, GIS, and Landscapes

Date/Heure: 
Vendredi, mai 7, 2021 - 2:40pm - 4:50pm
(ADT)
Room: 
1
Organizer(s): 
  • William T. D. Wadsworth, University of Alberta
  • Scott Hamilton, Lakehead University
Contact Email: 
Session Description (300 word max): 

Diverse geospatial and remote sensing methods have become increasingly common tools for archaeological site prospection, characterization, and monitoring, but remain comparatively underdeveloped in Canadian archaeology. While a recent uptick in the adoption of these techniques in Canada is apparent, efforts remain largely at the margins of many archaeological programs. In light of Canada’s unique and diverse regions, archaeologists interested in remote sensing are positioned to undertake networked conversations to explore the methodological and theoretical frontiers of remote sensing application. 

This session seeks participants currently engaged in remote sensing research, or those who have an interest in its application. It provides a venue for practitioners to debate methodologies, exchange ideas about data visualization and interpretation, and lament the challenges of such applications. We encourage participation from those interested in ground-based, aerial, satellite or underwater remote sensing, near-surface geophysical prospection, data processing and visualization, and how such data might impact methodological and theoretical aspects of applied and academic archaeology.

Présentations
02:40 PM: Adding LiDAR Data to the Toolkit for Archaeological Prospection at the Highland Valley Copper Mine in BC
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Sarah Smith - Simon Fraser University

As heritage resource management and Indigenous stewardship move into the forefront of operational planning and project design in British Columbia, it falls to researchers to find innovative ways to increase assessment efficiency. In this study I explore methods for employing LiDAR-derived digital elevation models as a tool for archaeological prospection within the Highland Valley Copper Mine. The efficacy of LiDAR-based topographic analysis using manual feature extraction is compared with ground-truthing data provided by my research partners at the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council. Specific methods were developed for the identification of high potential microtopographic relief. The methods identified a high percentage (75-92%) of recorded archaeological sites which meets Provincial requirements for a moderately effective predictive model. Recommendations are provided for improving LiDAR-analysis performance using best practices and interpolation workflow identified in contemporary studies. A cost-benefit analysis determined a significant financial implications for incorporating LiDAR-survey into the heritage management program. Survey program cost savings would allow for redistribution of resources and potentially a greater focus on mitigative systematic data recovery. The use of remote sensing technologies can have a positive impact on heritage resource management industry by decreasing program costs while maintaining research quality.

02:50 PM: Identifying and Relocating Cultural Depression Sites Using LiDAR Technology
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Jennifer Gainer - Circle CRM Group Inc.

LiDAR is a remote sensing method that uses predictive models to assess the landscape for potential landforms and features which exhibit archaeological potential. Although, it is commonly used to identify geographical features, it has also proved useful in identifying and relocating large cultural depression sites. A study of a small area in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, within the central interior of British Columbia, shows the benefits and short falls of the LiDAR technology by "ground truthing" areas which were pinpointed as part of the study as having high potential for cultural depression sites. The results of the survey were then compared to previous site records to help relocate, and potentially gain additional information, from some previously recorded sites in the area. 

03:00 PM: Volumetric Estimates for Coastal Shell Middens on the West Coast of Vancouver Island
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Robert Gustas - University of Victoria
  • Iain McKechnie - University of Victoria, Hakai Institute
  • Quentin Mackie - University of Victoria

Coastal shell middens are a quintessential component of the archaeological record on the Northwest Coast. Despite their importance in informing the cultural and environmental histories of Indigenous peoples, the majority of research on shell middens has not sought to estimate the 3D characteristics of these cultural deposits including geometric shape and volume. Here we present a new general model for estimating midden volume based on a regular geometric solid which relies on the metrics of the extent and depth of shell bearing deposits. This technique is scalable and designed to work with legacy survey data. We evaluate the accuracy of our technique using survey and LiDAR data from sites in Tseshaht Territory in the Broken Group Islands on Vancouver Island. As part of the evaluation process we developed a new method of 3D visualization of middens using systematic survey and subsurface percussion core data. The comparison of general and targeted midden model estimates demonstrates a high level of accuracy for our general model when applied at regional scale. This work presents the first ever landscape scale measure of midden volume within our study area, which has relevance to ongoing research questions.

03:10 PM: Digital terrain analysis as an archaeological site prospection tool in the central ice-free corridor, western Alberta
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Robin Woywitka
  • Benjaman Michalchuk - MacEwan University

Recent studies indicate that a viable biome for human habitation was established in the ice-free corridor (IFC) of western Canada by ca. 13,000 years ago. Although opinions vary on whether the IFC should again be considered a candidate for the initial dispersal of humans into North America, this work has stimulated a resurgence of interest in the IFC. Did people initially move into the area from south or north of the ice sheets? How do people adapt to newly deglaciated terrain? Despite the significance of these questions, our ability to address them is limited by a dearth of intact sites that can be dated to the deglacial period. Surprisingly, there have been very few systematic surveys of the IFC that attempt to fill this gap in the archaeological record. We address this by developing a digital terrain analysis approach to archaeological survey in the central IFC in western Alberta. We incorporate high resolution digital elevation models, surficial geology mapping, and archaeological data to identify landscape settings and sedimentary contexts where sites of deglacial age are likely to be preserved. The result is a geomorphological map that can help guide future survey for deglacial aged sites in the central ice-free corridor.

03:50 PM: Microfossils, Remote Sensing, and GIS for Proxy-dating Coastal Archaeological Sites and Landscapes: A case from Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, Canada
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Wesley Weatherbee - Saint Mary's University

An analysis employing previously published Foraminifera data spanning the Mid-Late Holocene from salt marsh deposits backing the coastal beach site of Oak Point (BgDc-07) on the southwestern shores of Minas Basin, Nova Scotia provides insights into regional scale intertidal morphodynamics. Site formation and post-depositional processes are examined using Foram data from three radiocarbon dated samples published as higher high water (HHW) sea level indicator points (SLIP). These data provide an elevation equivalent to the limit of high marsh, and highest astronomical tides (HAT) for the age interval of each sample. Two SLIPs represent past higher high marsh, and one represents lower high marsh. Stumps of an in-situ drowned forest are exposed below the site, clustering in two loci. The first hold well rooted stumps showing through mudflats at the lower limit and along an erosional face at the upper limit. It contains rooted stumps of various sizes, indicating the forest was well established prior to relative sea level rising to its modern limit. Calibrated SLIP ages, together with a hydrographic vertical separation surface, lidar derived digital elevation model, and ground penetrating radar surveys allow for the production geochronological boundaries for the site deposition and age of the drowned forest.

04:00 PM: “The View From Afar”: Applications of Remote Sensing in the Management of Northwest Territories Cultural Landscapes.
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Mike O'Rourke - GNWT - Cultural Places Program
  • Glen MacKay - GNWT - Cultural Places Program
  • Steve Schwarz - GNWT - Centre for Geomatics
  • Jurjen van der Sluijs - GNWT - Centre for Geomatics
  • Julie Buysse - GNWT - Cultural Places Program

Archaeologists have long sought to understand the extent of archaeological sites and features by “getting a better view”. From riding in hot air balloons to relying on state of the art orbital sensor packages, there is a substantial history of remote sensing applications in archaeology. Such lofty perspectives can yield a better understanding of past human land-use practices through a more holistic view of the landscape, but they can also play a critical role in the management of culturally significant locations. Given the impacts of climate change on the stability of cultural landscapes throughout the Northwest Territories (NWT), archaeologists with the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre have partnered with the NWT Centre for Geomatics to develop a series of remote sensing assets capable of informing archaeological management and research initiatives. The results of this collaboration have already proven an asset to iterative-recursive management approaches by generating immediately actionable results in the face of increasing climate uncertainty, while operating under constrained budgets. This paper outlines some of the challenges NWT archaeologists are facing in the management of culturally significant locations, as well as some of the imagery-based solutions which have been developed to meet those challenges.

04:10 PM: Virtual Cultural Landscapes: Geospatial Visualizations of Past Environments in SE Alaska
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Kelly Monteleone - University of Calgary/Mount Royal University
  • Amy Thompson - University of Texas at Austin
  • Keith Prufer - University of New Mexico

Recent advances in spatial and remote sensing technology have led to new methods in archaeological site identification and reconstruction, allowing archaeologists to investigate landscapes and sites on multiple scales. These remotely conducted surveys provide the foundation for virtual cultural landscapes and seascapes that archaeologists and the public interact with and experience, often better than traditional maps. Our study examines landscape reconstruction and archaeological site classifications from a phenomenological and human behavioural ecology (HBE) perspective. Through temporal reconstructions, archaeologists experience and interpret the past and subtle changes of virtual cultural landscapes and seascapes. We evaluate the use of remotely sensed data (lidar, satellite imagery, sonar, radar, etc.) for understanding virtual cultural landscapes, while incorporating Indigenous perspectives with a focus on a seascape in coastal Alaska, USA. By incorporating ethnographic, oral histories, Indigenous traditional knowledge, and community engagement archaeologists can begin to understand decisions made in the past, especially pertaining to settlement selection and resource procurement. These virtual reconstructions become cognitive images of a possible place that the observer experiences. Virtual cultural landscapes allow archaeologists to reproduce landscapes in different formats enhancing public engagement with the past and elucidate how landscapes changed over time based on human behaviours.

04:20 PM: Mining Government Archaeology Data for the Big Picture
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Eileen Paddy Colligan - Hunter College Anthropology Research Affiliate, City University of NY

People of the Thule culture spread across the North American Arctic about 1000CE to 1400. Although - or because - their sites are found from Alaska to Greenland, they are rarely studied on an Arctic-wide scale. The existence of growing repositories of data gathered from their widely dispersed sites is making this an increasingly practical approach. By using the data bases from eight government jurisdictions including six Canadian provinces and territories, Alaska and Greenland, this presentation discusses the difficulties as well as the promise these large data sets hold for creating informative maps and for researching settlement patterns and other expressions of culture across the full expanse of Thule world.