Predicting the past with GIS at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Renner A. 2013. Predicting the past with GIS at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Park Science. 30(2):13-15
Archeology integrates new and existing data to understand how humans interacted with their environment, in both the recent and distant past. This article provides an example of research into human-environment interactions and insights into how resulting information can assist park managers across programs.. The National Park Service’s Midwest Archeological Center is the repository for cultural resource site and survey location data collected for nearly five decades at more than 50 parks in the Midwest Region. As more and better data are accumulated, focus is now shifting toward integrating these large data sets to address “big picture” issues facing park resource managers. To that end, an ongoing multiyear archeological inventory at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore included the creation of a GIS-based archeological site predictive model. The model integrates data collected from small compliance projects to large parkwide inventories, and identifies patterns in the environmental characteristics of site locations. This article outlines the protocol used to integrate multiple data sets and addresses questions regarding prehistoric land use as well as the nature of previous sampling, providing a point from which to continue scientific inquiry.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Renner, Amanda
- Units
- INDU
- Keywords
- Archeology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Great Lakes, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, predictive modeling