9,576 research outputs found

    Landscapes of human evolution : models and methods of tectonic geomorphology and the reconstruction of hominin landscapes

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    This paper examines the relationship between complex and tectonically active landscapes and patterns of human evolution. We show how active tectonics can produce dynamic landscapes with geomorphological and topographic features that may be critical to long-term patterns of hominin land use but that are not typically addressed in landscape reconstructions based on existing geological and paleoenvironmental principles. We describe methods of representing topography at a range of scales using measures of roughness based on digital elevation data, and combine the resulting maps with satellite imagery and ground observations to reconstruct features of the wider landscape as they existed at the time of hominin occupation and activity. We apply these methods to sites in South Africa, where relatively stable topography facilitates reconstruction, and demonstrate the presence of previously unrecognized tectonic effects and their implications for the interpretation of hominin habitats and land use. In parts of the East African Rift, reconstruction is more difficult because of dramatic changes since the time of hominin occupation, while fossils are often found in places where activity has now almost ceased. However, we show that original, dynamic landscape features can be assessed by analogy with parts of the Rift that are currently active and indicate how this approach can complement other sources of information to add new insights and pose new questions for future investigation of hominin land use and habitats

    Dynamic landscapes and human dispersal patterns : tectonics, coastlines, and the reconstruction of human habitats

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    Studies of the impact of physical environment on human evolution usually focus on climate as the main external forcing agent of evolutionary and cultural change. In this paper we focus on changes in the physical character of the landscape driven by geophysical processes as an equally potent factor. Most of the landscapes where finds of early human fossils and artefacts are concentrated are ones that have been subjected to high levels of geological instability, either because of especially active tectonic processes associated with faulting and volcanic activity or because of proximity to coastlines subject to dramatic changes of geographical position and physical character by changes of relative sea level. These processes can have both beneficial effects, creating ecologically attractive conditions for human settlement, and deleterious or disruptive ones, creating barriers to movement, disruption of ecological conditions, or hazards to survival. Both positive and negative factors can have powerful selective effects on human behaviour and patterns of settlement and dispersal. We consider both these aspects of the interaction, develop a framework for the reconstruction and comparison of landscapes and landscape change at a variety of scales, and illustrate this with selected examples drawn from Africa and Arabia

    Surface networks

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    © Copyright CASA, UCL. The desire to understand and exploit the structure of continuous surfaces is common to researchers in a range of disciplines. Few examples of the varied surfaces forming an integral part of modern subjects include terrain, population density, surface atmospheric pressure, physico-chemical surfaces, computer graphics, and metrological surfaces. The focus of the work here is a group of data structures called Surface Networks, which abstract 2-dimensional surfaces by storing only the most important (also called fundamental, critical or surface-specific) points and lines in the surfaces. Surface networks are intelligent and “natural ” data structures because they store a surface as a framework of “surface ” elements unlike the DEM or TIN data structures. This report presents an overview of the previous works and the ideas being developed by the authors of this report. The research on surface networks has fou

    What can GIS + 3D mean for landscape archaeology?

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    Until recently Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have held center stage in the archaeologist\u27s geospatial toolkit, and there is no doubt that archaeologists have moved beyond the mapdbut into what? In the early years, criticisms voicing GIS as environmentally-deterministic were abundant. What methods and tool have archaeologists used to overcome these criticisms? New geospatial technologies such as airborne lidar and aerial photogrammetry are allowing us to acquire inordinate amounts of georeferenced 3D datad but do these 3D technologies help overcome criticisms of environmental determinism? TogetherdGIS ĂŸ 3Dd can link georeferenced 3D models to underlying data adding a ground-based humanistic perspective lacking in the bird\u27s eye view of traditional GIS. This paper situates GIS and 3D within a semiotic framework to offer some ideas on using 3DGIS to intertwine environmental and cultural factors to work toward new approaches for landscape archaeology

    Out Of Place: Stone Architecture And Pastoral Nomadism In Prehistoric Inner Asia

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    How architecture reflects the configuration of physical and social spaces among prehistoric pastoral nomads is a topic scarcely explored in the archaeology of Inner Asia, not least because the common preconception is that structural remains are not in keeping with the mobile lifestyle. Yet, the juxtaposition of these two seemingly contrasting strategies of human subsistence forms an interesting paradox that underlies precisely the nature of nomadism. Accordingly, this study questions how pastoral nomads relate to stationary structures and the idea of a locale. To do so, it draws on the archaeological record of stone architecture in the Bortala River Valley of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, an area where pastoral nomadism developed in the second and first millennia BCE. With data collected from survey and excavation, this study employs GIS, statistics, and 3D photogrammetry to examine the environment and building patterns of these stone structures on three spatial scales. Built in simple geometric forms recurring in space and time, they correspond typologically to different epochs of human habitation, funerary and ritual activities. Instead of approaching the material typologically, however, this study questions the connection between site selection and architectural design and how the prehistoric landscape of Western Tian Shan was shaped. Three characteristics of place-making and space use are identified. First, the significance of these sites is reinforced through recurring access of specific locations and the adherence to certain building codes. Second, the aggregation of building components over time, like the symbolisms they carry, is cumulative and continuously reconfigured. Third, spatial knowledge is communal. It is anchored to a cartographic palimpsest comprising diverse forms of architecture and art. These preliminary observations form the basis for further modeling, in future research, the logistics of building and cultures of space use among early pastoral societies in Inner Asia on more explicit timescales and in more defined spatial forms

    Out Of Place: Stone Architecture And Pastoral Nomadism In Prehistoric Inner Asia

    Get PDF
    How architecture reflects the configuration of physical and social spaces among prehistoric pastoral nomads is a topic scarcely explored in the archaeology of Inner Asia, not least because the common preconception is that structural remains are not in keeping with the mobile lifestyle. Yet, the juxtaposition of these two seemingly contrasting strategies of human subsistence forms an interesting paradox that underlies precisely the nature of nomadism. Accordingly, this study questions how pastoral nomads relate to stationary structures and the idea of a locale. To do so, it draws on the archaeological record of stone architecture in the Bortala River Valley of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, an area where pastoral nomadism developed in the second and first millennia BCE. With data collected from survey and excavation, this study employs GIS, statistics, and 3D photogrammetry to examine the environment and building patterns of these stone structures on three spatial scales. Built in simple geometric forms recurring in space and time, they correspond typologically to different epochs of human habitation, funerary and ritual activities. Instead of approaching the material typologically, however, this study questions the connection between site selection and architectural design and how the prehistoric landscape of Western Tian Shan was shaped. Three characteristics of place-making and space use are identified. First, the significance of these sites is reinforced through recurring access of specific locations and the adherence to certain building codes. Second, the aggregation of building components over time, like the symbolisms they carry, is cumulative and continuously reconfigured. Third, spatial knowledge is communal. It is anchored to a cartographic palimpsest comprising diverse forms of architecture and art. These preliminary observations form the basis for further modeling, in future research, the logistics of building and cultures of space use among early pastoral societies in Inner Asia on more explicit timescales and in more defined spatial forms

    GIS-based landscape design research

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    Landscape design research is important for cultivating spatial intelligence in landscape architecture. This study explores GIS (geographic information systems) as a tool for landscape design research - investigating landscape designs to understand them as architectonic compositions (architectonic plan analysis). The concept ‘composition’ refers to a conceivable arrangement, an architectural expression of a mental construct that is legible and open to interpretation. Landscape architectonic compositions and their representations embody a great wealth of design knowledge as objects of our material culture and reflect the possible treatment of the ground, space, image and program as a characteristic coherence. By exploring landscape architectonic compositions with GIS, design researchers can acquire design knowledge that can be used in the creation and refinement of a design.  The research aims to identify and illustrate the potential role of GIS as a tool in landscape design research, so as to provide insight into the possibilities and limitations of using GIS in this capacity. The critical, information-oriented case of Stourhead landscape garden (Wiltshire, UK), an example of a designed landscape that covers the scope and remit of landscape architecture design, forms the heart of the study. The exploration of Stourhead by means of GIS can be understood as a plausibility probe. Here the case study is considered a form of ‘quasi-experiment’, testing the hypothesis and generating a learning process that constitutes a prerequisite for advanced understanding, while using an adjusted version of the framework for landscape design analysis by Steenbergen and Reh (2003). This is a theoretically informed analytical method based on the formal interpretation of the landscape architectonic composition addressing four landscape architectonic categories: the basic, the spatial, the symbolic and the programmatic form. This study includes new aspects to be analysed, such as the visible form and the shape of the walk, and serves as the basis for the landscape architectonic analysis in which GIS is used as the primary analytical tool.  GIS-based design research has the possibility to cultivate spatial intelligence in landscape architecture through three fields of operation: GIS-based modelling: description of existing and future landscape architectonic compositions in digital form; GIS-based analysis: exploration, analysis and synthesis of landscape architectonic compositions in order to reveal latent architectonic relationships and principles, while utilizing the processing capacities and possibilities of computers for ex-ante and ex-post simulation and evaluation; GIS-based visual representation: representation of (virtual) landscape architectonic compositions in space and time, in order to retrieve and communicate information and knowledge of the landscape design.  Though there are limitations, this study exemplifies that GIS is a powerful instrument to acquire knowledge from landscape architectonic compositions. The study points out that the application of GIS in landscape design research can be seen as an extension of the fundamental cycle of observation, visual representation, analysis and interpretation in the process of knowledge acquisition, with alternative visualisations and digital landscape models as important means for this process. Using the calculating power of computers, combined with inventive modelling, analysis and visualisation concepts in an interactive process, opened up possibilities to reveal new information and knowledge about the basic, spatial, symbolic and programmatic form of Stourhead. GIS extended the design researchers’ perception via measurement, simulation and experimentation, and at the same time offered alternative ways of understanding the landscape architectonic composition. This gave rise to the possibility of exploring new elements in the framework of landscape design research, such as the visible form and kinaesthetic aspects, analysing the composition from eyelevel perspective. Moreover, the case study showcases that GIS has the potential to measure phenomena that are often subject to intuitive and experimental design, combining general scientific knowledge of, for instance, visual perception and way-finding, with the examination of site-specific design applications. GIS also enabled one to understand the landscape architectonic composition of Stourhead as a product of time, via the analysis of its development through reconstruction and evaluation of several crucial time-slice snapshots. The study illustrates that GIS can be regarded an external cognitive tool that facilitates and mediates in design knowledge acquisition. GIS facilitates in the sense that it can address the ‘same types of design-knowledge’ regarding the basic, spatial, symbolic and programmatic form, but in a more precise, systematic, transparent, and quantified manner. GIS mediates in the sense that it influences what and how aspects of the composition can be understood and therefore enables design researchers to generate ‘new types of design-knowledge’ by advanced spatial analysis and the possibility of linking or integrating other information layers, fields of science and data sources. The research contributes to the development and distribution of knowledge of GIS-applications in landscape architecture in two ways: (1) by ‘following’ the discipline and developing aspects of it, and (2) by setting in motion fundamental developments in the field, providing alternative readings of landscape architecture designs

    GIS-based landscape design research:

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    Landscape design research is important for cultivating spatial intelligence in landscape architecture. This study explores GIS (geographic information systems) as a tool for landscape design research - investigating landscape designs to understand them as architectonic compositions (architectonic plan analysis). The concept ‘composition’ refers to a conceivable arrangement, an architectural expression of a mental construct that is legible and open to interpretation. Landscape architectonic compositions and their representations embody a great wealth of design knowledge as objects of our material culture and reflect the possible treatment of the ground, space, image and program as a characteristic coherence. By exploring landscape architectonic compositions with GIS, design researchers can acquire design knowledge that can be used in the creation and refinement of a design.  The research aims to identify and illustrate the potential role of GIS as a tool in landscape design research, so as to provide insight into the possibilities and limitations of using GIS in this capacity. The critical, information-oriented case of Stourhead landscape garden (Wiltshire, UK), an example of a designed landscape that covers the scope and remit of landscape architecture design, forms the heart of the study. The exploration of Stourhead by means of GIS can be understood as a plausibility probe. Here the case study is considered a form of ‘quasi-experiment’, testing the hypothesis and generating a learning process that constitutes a prerequisite for advanced understanding, while using an adjusted version of the framework for landscape design analysis by Steenbergen and Reh (2003). This is a theoretically informed analytical method based on the formal interpretation of the landscape architectonic composition addressing four landscape architectonic categories: the basic, the spatial, the symbolic and the programmatic form. This study includes new aspects to be analysed, such as the visible form and the shape of the walk, and serves as the basis for the landscape architectonic analysis in which GIS is used as the primary analytical tool.  GIS-based design research has the possibility to cultivate spatial intelligence in landscape architecture through three fields of operation: GIS-based modelling: description of existing and future landscape architectonic compositions in digital form; GIS-based analysis: exploration, analysis and synthesis of landscape architectonic compositions in order to reveal latent architectonic relationships and principles, while utilizing the processing capacities and possibilities of computers for ex-ante and ex-post simulation and evaluation; GIS-based visual representation: representation of (virtual) landscape architectonic compositions in space and time, in order to retrieve and communicate information and knowledge of the landscape design.  Though there are limitations, this study exemplifies that GIS is a powerful instrument to acquire knowledge from landscape architectonic compositions. The study points out that the application of GIS in landscape design research can be seen as an extension of the fundamental cycle of observation, visual representation, analysis and interpretation in the process of knowledge acquisition, with alternative visualisations and digital landscape models as important means for this process. Using the calculating power of computers, combined with inventive modelling, analysis and visualisation concepts in an interactive process, opened up possibilities to reveal new information and knowledge about the basic, spatial, symbolic and programmatic form of Stourhead. GIS extended the design researchers’ perception via measurement, simulation and experimentation, and at the same time offered alternative ways of understanding the landscape architectonic composition. This gave rise to the possibility of exploring new elements in the framework of landscape design research, such as the visible form and kinaesthetic aspects, analysing the composition from eyelevel perspective. Moreover, the case study showcases that GIS has the potential to measure phenomena that are often subject to intuitive and experimental design, combining general scientific knowledge of, for instance, visual perception and way-finding, with the examination of site-specific design applications. GIS also enabled one to understand the landscape architectonic composition of Stourhead as a product of time, via the analysis of its development through reconstruction and evaluation of several crucial time-slice snapshots. The study illustrates that GIS can be regarded an external cognitive tool that facilitates and mediates in design knowledge acquisition. GIS facilitates in the sense that it can address the ‘same types of design-knowledge’ regarding the basic, spatial, symbolic and programmatic form, but in a more precise, systematic, transparent, and quantified manner. GIS mediates in the sense that it influences what and how aspects of the composition can be understood and therefore enables design researchers to generate ‘new types of design-knowledge’ by advanced spatial analysis and the possibility of linking or integrating other information layers, fields of science and data sources. The research contributes to the development and distribution of knowledge of GIS-applications in landscape architecture in two ways: (1) by ‘following’ the discipline and developing aspects of it, and (2) by setting in motion fundamental developments in the field, providing alternative readings of landscape architecture designs
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