Unpacking the Geoarchaeologist’s Geospatial Tool Bag: A Case Study Using Predictive Modeling on the Central Coast, Pismo Beach, California

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Geoarchaeology Research" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

While geographic information system (GIS) based modeling applications are not new to archaeological practice, they offer a suite of tools and techniques for building a robust geoarchaeological dataset when used judiciously. Such models utilize geologic unit and age, soils, slope, aspect, distance to water, distance to known resource procurement areas, or other data deemed appropriate for analysis. A recent compliance-driven project posed an interesting geoarchaeological problem: Does a known site extend into the median of a busy highway in need of modification, where site boundary testing would be unsafe? To supplement excavation outside of the highway right-of-way, a raster analysis was completed to study the likelihood of the site’s extension into the project area by assessing the potential for surface and buried site deposits. The landscape was further analyzed to gain an understanding of time and movement across this area by the application of isotropic and least-cost pathway modeling. Surface and buried site predictive modeling coupled with models of time-based landscape and least-cost pathways comprise a comprehensive landscape-level archaeological dataset. These models have been assessed in relation to known human activity areas, providing a new perspective of this precious strip of coastline.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Geoarchaeology Research

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33395