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Jim Kompanek
Topic and Scope
This project will focus on a predictive model for potential Middle Woodland component archaeological sites located in Licking County, Ohio. Licking County is located in central Ohio, east of Columbus and is the location of numerous significant archaeological sites including some of the largest geometric earthworks in the United States. This period dated from approximately 0 to 500 AD in central Ohio and corresponded with the rise of the Hopewell culture through much of the mid-west. This period is generally associated with nucleated villages located along major drainages, as well as associated geometric earthworks.
Aims
The goal of this project is to examine the distribution of known Middle Woodland sites based on a series of environmental variables and then develop a series of weighted parameters to predict the location of potential Middle Woodland archaeological sites in Licking County.
Data/Data Sources
The primary data sourced utilized for analysis will be based on a shape file provided by the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). This file contains the location of every archaeological site in the county, as well as associated attributes. Additional environmental data will be downloaded from the USGS seamless site, as well as the NRCS Geospatial Gateway. This will include a high resolution digital elevation model, hydrographic datasets, and soil maps for the county.
SiteData.shp ---> Shape file containing site centroids and associated attributes (SHPO);
1/3rd Arc Second DEM ---> Will be used to determine elevation and generate slope, aspect, and relief raster datasets for the county (USGS seamless site);
Hydrographic dataset ---> Will be converted to raster and provide for the distance to water variable (USGS seamless site);
NRCS Official Soil maps ---> Will be downloaded from the NRCS Geospatial Gateway and will provide soil information for the county;
Intended analysis and outputs
The first analysis conducted will be a Average Nearest Neighbor Distance to determine the probability of the distribution of events (sites) is the result of actual clustering or the result of random chance. The subsequent analyses will be based on seven environmental variables: elevation, slope, aspect, relief, soil type, and distance-to-water. As this information is already available in the site data attribute table, it will not need to be generated.
The next step will be to examine the histogram of each environmental variable to determine the frequency of results. The simplest method of weighing the results will be to divide the results of each environmental variable into four sections, depending on frequency, and weigh them between 1 and 4.
Following this, the next step will involve generating slope, aspect, and relief from the downloaded elevation model. These layers will then be reclassified based upon the above scheme. The county soil map will also be converted over and reclassified in a similar manner. The straight line distance will be generated based on the hydrographic dataset and the resulting raster will be reclassified based upon the previously determined scheme. The final step will be to combine each layer using Raster Calculator, which will provide a distribution map of the county, with the values of cells ranging from 0 (low probability) to 28 (high probability).
This document is published in fulfillment of an assignment by a student enrolled in an educational offering of The Pennsylvania State University. The student, named above, retains all rights to the document and responsibility for its accuracy and originality.