Participatory Mapping and Participatory GIS for Historical and Archaeological Landscape Studies: a Critical Review

Abstract

This article presents participatory mapping (PM) and Participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) approaches as an appropriate and still developing kind of community-based spatial study in archaeology. Researchers and practitioners who advocate reflexive mapping practices in the field recognize that mapping is not an objective practice and that maps are necessarily the product of those who create them. We consider that a PM/PGIS approach can contribute to this reflexive practice through the incorporation of local spatial knowledge (LSK) which is always place-based and reflects a long and close physical interaction with the landscape. For local communities, this approach helps them to be incorporated as active subjects in the registration and interpretation of their cultural heritage, as well as in the defense and management of it. At the same time, archaeological studies are enriched by incorporating contemporary perspectives and local people’s knowledge into interpretations of past landscapes.