DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION OF CULTURAL RESOURCE DATA IN A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM FROM NUVAKWEWTAQA, CHAVEZ PASS, ARIZONA: A MODEL FOR SPATIAL DATA MANAGEMENT

Summary

The six year Chavez Pass Archaeological Project (Arizona State University - Chavez Pass Project 1976-1982) consisted of survey and excavation at the large Puebloan site of Nuvakwewtaqa. The burial assemblages that resulted from this project were recently reanalyzed in cooperation with the Coconino National Forest, as part of ASU’s Forest Service sponsored NAGPRA Documentation project. The initial project recorded and documented all features identified across the site. However, a comprehensive site map tied to a non-arbitrary coordinate system was not generated. Archaeological relationships within and between features at Chavez Pass are complex and as such, necessitated a visual mode of spatial data interaction. Recent improvements in mapping technology including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) greatly facilitated georeferencing the digitized site maps. Once georeferenced and projected (Arizona NAD83 UTM Zone 12), the non-arbitrary site coordinates were applied across all subsequent feature maps. These new georeferenced data layers served as foundations to build a comprehensive geodatabase and map of the Chavez Pass site that will provide researchers, and students with a visual mode of spatial data interaction.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage