Abstract
The literature in the field of archaeological predictive models has grown in the last years, looking for new factors the most effective methods to introduce. However, where predictive models are used for archaeological heritage management, they could benefit from using a more speedy and consequently useful methods including some well-consolidated factors studied in the literature. In this paper, an operative archaeological predictive model is developed, validated and discussed, in order to test its effectiveness. It is applied to Yangshao period (5000–3000 BC) in the Songshan area, where Chinese civilization emerged and developed, and uses 563 known settlement sites. The satisfactory results herein achieved clearly suggest that the model herein proposed can be reliably used to predict the geographical location of unknown settlements.
Highlights
Over the years, numerous archaeological predictive models have been developed to study the existing relationships between environmental parameters and known archaeological site locations [1,2]
Traditionally observed settlement patterns and assumptions related to the relationships between natural and social environmental parameters have been statistically investigated to obtain “settlement rules” that are important to improve the understanding of past human behavior and develop interpretations of the socio-economic structures of past societies [11]
A correlation analysis was used to eliminate redundant factors, as well as to capture the degree of closeness between the elements of the geographical environment which influenced the location of settlements in prehistoric times
Summary
Numerous archaeological predictive models have been developed to study the existing relationships between environmental parameters and known archaeological site locations [1,2]. This was done in order to assess the likelihood of finding remaining archaeological sites containing the past human activity [3,4,5,6], and for management and protection reasons. Traditionally observed settlement patterns and assumptions related to the relationships between natural and social environmental parameters have been statistically investigated to obtain “settlement rules” that are important to improve the understanding of past human behavior and develop interpretations of the socio-economic structures of past societies [11]
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