Submerged Skylines: Applications of GIS-Based Visibility Analyses in Reconstructing Submerged Cities

Author(s): Chelsea Cohen

Year: 2018

Summary

Reconstructions of submerged urban landscapes hold an important role in understanding the potential past form and function of a site. As these reconstructions grow more prominent, the tools used to manipulate and evaluate these reconstructions become increasingly more important. This project endeavors to expand that tool set by using GIS-based visibility analyses as a means of evaluating reconstructions and using them to contextualize the relationship between port cities and seafarers. Working with the submerged site Port Royal, Jamaica, comparative visibility analyses were created to evaluate reconstructed models of five excavated buildings against historical accounts of the city’s maritime functions. By using GIS to look into the potential visibility of areas of commerce relative to the sea, this project aims to determine if and how proximity to and visibility from the port areas impacted the development, distribution, and daily function of commercial activity in Port Royal.

Cite this Record

Submerged Skylines: Applications of GIS-Based Visibility Analyses in Reconstructing Submerged Cities. Chelsea Cohen. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441467)

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Keywords

General
Gis Port Royal Urban

Geographic Keywords
North America United States of America

Temporal Keywords
17th Century

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 370