GIS Applications in Southern African Archaeology

Abstract

The development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a computer-based technology to handle spatial information has been one of the most fundamental research tools to have benefited archaeology in the late 20th and early 21st century. Since its adoption in archaeology in the 1990s, there has been a gradual increase in the use of GIS in the discipline across the world, including in southern Africa. GIS technology has enabled a variety of spatial questions to be investigated thanks to its capability to handle multiple forms of data and their inherent spatial relationships. In southern Africa, archaeologists have used these systems (a) to present and visualize prehistoric settlement locations and patterns across space and time; (b) as a surveying tool to locate past settlements (archaeological sites) through manipulation of remote sensing data; (c) to develop three-dimensional (3D) models, especially of cave formations, in order to understand site formation processes and hominid behavior in these locations; (d) to predict the locations of archaeological sites; (e) to investigate the extent to which past societies understood and made use of landscape visibility, terrain variability, and other landscape characteristics in order to maximize benefits against perceived costs in resource exploitation; and (f) to develop information systems that can be used in heritage management and academic inquiries involving space use. In some research contexts, the GIS technology has made it possible to integrate old and new spatial data, allowing for revisiting old questions on prehistoric land use and on the occurrence of pastoralism, farming, and metallurgy in southern Africa. The intensity and extent of GIS use in the southern African region varies across countries, institutions, and individuals, although a number of trends can be discerned from the literature. The analysis of published and unpublished sources containing evidence of GIS exploitation in southern Africa shows that these systems have been used first and foremost as map-making tools to provide visual perspective on the locations and distributions of archaeological sites or material under discussion. This is, first, because maps are communicative devices, although they can also serve as tools to think with. Second, there is more use of GIS to answer localized intra and inter-site spatial questions than there is work that investigates issues that cut across present national boundaries. Third, there are more researchers who have made use of GIS in archaeology in South Africa and Zimbabwe than in the other countries of the region. GIS technology is also being exploited by national heritage management institutions and a few private organizations, for the production of spatially enabled heritage databases. Another observation that can be made is that some of the archaeologists who are using GIS in their research in southern Africa were or are themselves based outside the region, reflecting the continuation of the global north-south pattern in the penetration of GIS technology in southern Africa. Undergraduate work on GIS helps reflect on the training that is taking place in education institutions. The popularity of the topic at undergraduate levels may have implications for its uptake at higher levels. Unfortunately, GIS work conducted by undergraduate students is not easily accessible through online means due to the repository policies of many universities. However, the literature consulted suggests that overall there is a growing interest in the use of GIS in the region.