Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, Tanzania
This paper presents a case study using zonal statistical analysis for archaeological predictive modeling with open-access software and free geospatial datasets. The method is applied to the rural landscapes of Zanzibar, Tanzania on the Swahili Coast. This study used QGIS (version 3.28) to perform zo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology |
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| Online Access: | https://account.journal.caa-international.org/index.php/up-j-jcaa/article/view/107 |
| _version_ | 1797656003383132160 |
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| author | Wolfgang Alders |
| author_facet | Wolfgang Alders |
| author_sort | Wolfgang Alders |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a case study using zonal statistical analysis for archaeological predictive modeling with open-access software and free geospatial datasets. The method is applied to the rural landscapes of Zanzibar, Tanzania on the Swahili Coast. This study used QGIS (version 3.28) to perform zonal statistical analyses of environmental datasets weighted by settlement classes digitized from a 1907 historical map, to create predictive models for settlement across the island. These models were compared against the locations of major precolonial archaeological sites on the island and site data from a random stratified archaeological survey in an environmentally diverse region of northern Zanzibar. The results show strong correspondences between larger permanent site locations and areas of high likelihood for site detection in the predictive model. Additionally, there were correspondences between areas of lower likelihood for site detection and smaller, ephemeral sites related to agricultural production in swidden field plots. These results attest to Swahili rural complexity and enable an understanding of the specific environmental affordances that structured settlement and land use over the last millennium, in ways that shaped colonial contact in rural areas and altered the sociopolitical development of Zanzibar and the East African coast. The methods described here may be applicable for researchers and heritage managers in Africa and the Global South, where funding for large-scale field projects, expensive satellite imagery, or software licensing is limited. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:22:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-acddbb89b8d44128a5ce74d54137e2cc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2514-8362 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:22:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj.art-acddbb89b8d44128a5ce74d54137e2cc2023-10-19T08:09:46ZengUbiquity PressJournal of Computer Applications in Archaeology2514-83622023-09-0161117–142117–14210.5334/jcaa.10715Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, TanzaniaWolfgang Alders0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8656-3765University of ArkansasThis paper presents a case study using zonal statistical analysis for archaeological predictive modeling with open-access software and free geospatial datasets. The method is applied to the rural landscapes of Zanzibar, Tanzania on the Swahili Coast. This study used QGIS (version 3.28) to perform zonal statistical analyses of environmental datasets weighted by settlement classes digitized from a 1907 historical map, to create predictive models for settlement across the island. These models were compared against the locations of major precolonial archaeological sites on the island and site data from a random stratified archaeological survey in an environmentally diverse region of northern Zanzibar. The results show strong correspondences between larger permanent site locations and areas of high likelihood for site detection in the predictive model. Additionally, there were correspondences between areas of lower likelihood for site detection and smaller, ephemeral sites related to agricultural production in swidden field plots. These results attest to Swahili rural complexity and enable an understanding of the specific environmental affordances that structured settlement and land use over the last millennium, in ways that shaped colonial contact in rural areas and altered the sociopolitical development of Zanzibar and the East African coast. The methods described here may be applicable for researchers and heritage managers in Africa and the Global South, where funding for large-scale field projects, expensive satellite imagery, or software licensing is limited.https://account.journal.caa-international.org/index.php/up-j-jcaa/article/view/107remote sensingsuitability modelingsettlement patternsprospectionswahilizanzibar |
| spellingShingle | Wolfgang Alders Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, Tanzania Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology remote sensing suitability modeling settlement patterns prospection swahili zanzibar |
| title | Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, Tanzania |
| title_full | Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, Tanzania |
| title_fullStr | Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, Tanzania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, Tanzania |
| title_short | Open-Access Archaeological Predictive Modeling Using Zonal Statistics: A Case Study from Zanzibar, Tanzania |
| title_sort | open access archaeological predictive modeling using zonal statistics a case study from zanzibar tanzania |
| topic | remote sensing suitability modeling settlement patterns prospection swahili zanzibar |
| url | https://account.journal.caa-international.org/index.php/up-j-jcaa/article/view/107 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wolfgangalders openaccessarchaeologicalpredictivemodelingusingzonalstatisticsacasestudyfromzanzibartanzania |