Database development and GIS analysis at Tse-whit-zen

Summary

Digital databases promote consistency and data quality, facilitate analysis of patterning at multiple temporal and spatial scales and promote accessibility to a wide range of potential users. The value of digital databases is especially clear with large complex projects that involve collaborators working in separate research settings with different collections, but where data integration is essential to meeting project goals, such as with the Tse-whit-zen project. This presentation reviews approaches used to create and maintain the Tse-whit-zen database-- that includes faunal, chronological, and geo-spatial records of excavated deposits. Hand-drawn excavation unit-level maps were digitized and stored in a geodatabase. Spatial and temporal analytic units of various scales were defined. Through a unique identifier, the analytic units (e.g. Chronozones) were linked to the faunal and other records stored in an Access database and used as the basis for analysis calculations and visualizations. Records were visualized both in 2D in ArcMap and 3D using ArcScene. QA/QC protocols were implemented to maintain database integrity.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Preliminary Results from the Tse-whit-zen Project: Zooarchaeology and Geoarchaeology of a 2000 yr old Lower Elwha Klallam Village on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington State

Keywords

Spatial Coverage