Geographic Visualization in Archaeology

Archaeologists are often considered frontrunners in employing spatial approaches within the social sciences and humanities, including geospatial technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) that are now routinely used in archaeology. Since the late 1980s, GIS has mainly been used to support data collection and management as well as spatial analysis and modeling. While fruitful, these efforts have arguably neglected the potential contribution of advanced visualization methods to the generation of broader archaeological knowledge. This paper reviews the use of GIS in archaeology from a geographic visualization (geovisual) perspective and examines how these methods can broaden the scope of archaeological research in an era of more user-friendly cyber-infrastructures. Like most computational databases, GIS do not easily support temporal data. This limitation is particularly problematic in archaeology because processes and events are best understood in space and time. To deal with such shortcomings in existing tools, archaeologists often end up having to reduce the diversity and complexity of archaeological phenomena. Recent developments in geographic visualization begin to address some of these issues, and are pertinent in the globalized world as archaeologists amass vast new bodies of geo-referenced information and work towards integrating them with traditional archaeological data. Greater effort in developing geovisualization and geovisual analytics appropriate for archaeological data can create opportunities to visualize, navigate and assess different sources of information within the larger archaeological community, thus enhancing possibilities for collaborative research and new forms of critical inquiry

Late Quaternary sea-level change and early human societies in the central and eastern Mediterranean Basin : an interdisciplinary review

This article reviews key data and debates focused on relative sea-level changes since the Last Interglacial (approximately the last 132,000 years) in the Mediterranean Basin, and their implications for past human populations. Geological and geomorphological landscape studies are critical to archaeology. Coastal regions provide a wide range of resources to the populations that inhabit them. Coastal landscapes are increasingly the focus of scholarly discussions from the earliest exploitation of littoral resources and early hominin cognition, to the inundation of the earliest permanently settled fishing villages and eventually, formative centres of urbanisation. In the Mediterranean, these would become hubs of maritime transportation that gave rise to the roots of modern seaborne trade. As such, this article represents an original review of both the geo-scientific and archaeological data that specifically relate to sea-level changes and resulting impacts on both physical and cultural landscapes from the Palaeolithic until the emergence of the Classical periods. Our review highlights that the interdisciplinary links between coastal archaeology, geomorphology and sea-level changes are important to explain environmental impacts on coastal human societies and human migration. We review geological indicators of sea level and outline how archaeological features are commonly used as proxies for measuring past sea levels, both gradual changes and catastrophic events. We argue that coastal archaeologists should, as a part of their analyses, incorporate important sea-level concepts, such as indicative meaning. The interpretation of the indicative meaning of Roman fishtanks, for example, plays a critical role in reconstructions of late Holocene Mediterranean sea levels. We identify avenues for future work, which include the consideration of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) in addition to coastal tectonics to explain vertical movements of coastlines, more research on Palaeolithic island colonisation, broadening of Palaeolithic studies to include materials from the entire coastal landscape and not just coastal resources, a focus on rescue of archaeological sites under threat by coastal change, and expansion of underwater archaeological explorations in combination with submarine geomorphology. This article presents a collaborative synthesis of data, some of which have been collected and analysed by the authors, as the MEDFLOOD (MEDiterranean sea-level change and projection for future FLOODing) community, and highlights key sites, data, concepts and ongoing debates

Synthesis and some reactions of the heterometallic C(7) complex {Cp*(dppe)Ru}Ctriple barCCtriple barCCtriple barCC{Co(3)(mu-dppm)(CO)(7)}

Copyright © 2008 American Chemical SocietyThe heterometallic carbon-chain complex {Cp*(dppe)Ru} C≡CC≡CC≡CC{Co3(μ-dppm)(CO)7} (1) has been obtained by three routes that involve assembly of the C7 chain by combination of appropriate C1 + C6, C2 + C5, or C3 + C4 precursors. The Cp analogue 2 and Co3(CO)9 cluster analogue 3 were obtained via the C2 + C5 and C1 + C6 routes, respectively. Reaction of 1 with PPh3 gave 4 via substitution of a Co3 cluster-bonded CO group. Addition of MeOTf to the second carbon from the Ru center in 1 afforded the vinylidene [{Cp*(dppe)Ru}=C= CMeC≡CC≡CC{Co3(μ-dppm)(CO)7}]OTf (5), while addition of tcne or tcnq across the central C≡C bond gave {Cp*(dppe)Ru}C≡CC[=C(CN)2]C[=C(CN)2]- C≡CC{Co3(μ-dppm)(CO)7} (6) and {Cp*(dppe)Ru}C≡CC[=C6H4C(CN) 2]C[=C(CN)2]C≡CC{Co3(μ-dppm)(CO) 7} (7), respectively. The reaction between 1 and Fe 2(CO)9 was more complex, the major product being {Cp*(dppe)Ru}C≡CC{Fe3(CO)9}CC≡CC{Co 3(μ-dppm)(CO)7} (8), accompanied by an Fe 2(CO)6 derivative (9) of as yet undetermined structure. {Cp*(dppe)Ru} C≡CC≡CC≡CC {Co2Ni(μ-dppm) (CO)4Cp} (10) was obtained from the reaction with NiCp2. An unstable adduct containing two Co2(CO)6 groups attached to the C7 chain was formed in reactions between 1 and Co 2(CO)8. XRD structural studies of 1, 2, 6-8, and 10 are reported. Electrochemical measurements suggest that there is some interaction between the two end groups, although this cannot presently be quantified. It is concluded that the C7 chain is long enough for the properties of the individual end caps to be preserved, while steric inhibition from the phenyl groups of the dppe and dppm ligands directs addition to the central C≡C triple bond of the C7 chain. © 2008 American Chemical Society.Michael I. Bruce, Marcus L. Cole, Christian R. Parker, Brian W. Skelton and Allan H. Whit