Using GIS to Critique Federal Agricultural Policy of the 1930s on the Hector Backbone

Summary

Archaeologists typically focus on the mechanics of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS also possesses the capability to incorporate spatial data at a scale previously unfathomable by archaeologists and to aid in interpretations of social processes in the past. In order to evaluate the ways that GIS can be used as an interpretive tool I will critically examine the Federal Government’s purchase of over one hundred farms in the 1930s located along the Hector Backbone in Schuyler County New York. The purchase of these farms was primarily based on two factors, poor soil conditions and the inability to mechanize these farms due to the perceived extreme slopes on the Hector Backbone. Using GIS it becomes possible incorporate large-scale environmental data, such as soil and topographic maps into archaeological analyses. Ultimately makes it possible to draw comparisons between the Hector Backbone and other regions of the County not targeted by federal action. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Modern Technology, Past Culture: Emerging Effects of Information Technologies on Archaeological Practice   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 498