1. The N18 Oranmore to Gort
Archaeological Excavations
Programme
&
the use of GIS from Project
Design to Publication
Finn Delaney & Maurizio Toscano
Eachtra Archaeological Projects
IAI Autumn conference Belfast 5th & 6th
November 2010
2. Overview
• Introduction
The Scheme
GIS – what is it?
Why we adopted the methodology
• Set-up
• The system and process as developed
• Benefits
• Outcomes
• Summary
• Acknowledgements
6. Eachtra Archaeological Projects were
commissioned to provide archaeological services
in four Phases
• Phase 1 – Surveys, Test Excavations and Reporting
• Phase 2 – Full Excavation of significant archaeological
features or deposits discovered during the phase 1
works
• Phase 3 – Post-excavation analyses and the production
of illustrated reports fit for publication
• Phase 4 - Monitoring
7. Phase 1
All work at phase 1 followed recommendations made by EIS for the scheme
• Desk based study
• Earthwork surveys
• A building survey
• Townland boundary
Surveys
• A watercourse survey
• Test excavation by
hand
• Test excavation by
machine
• Field walking
• Centre line testing by
machine in all other
areas (162,263 m²)
8. Project Team
• 6 excavation teams – 6 directors (John Lehane, Gerry Mullins,
Agnes Kerrigan, Tori McMorran, Linda Hegarty and Enda
O’Mahony), 13 supervisors, 1 osteo archaeologist, 56 site assistants
and 6 general operatives
• Liaison officer/fencer
• Surveyor and assistant
• GIS x 3 – management, data input and reporting
• Office manager and assistant
• Senior Archaeologist
9. Phase 2
• 23 sites excavated – January to June 2008,
November 2009 and March 2010
• Producing 1000’s of records
– Context sheets
– Registers
– Samples
– Finds
– Photographs
– Scaled drawings
10. Phase 3 – Post excavation
Large specialist team highlights the collaborative nature of the project
Speciality Name
Artefact catalogue Sara Camplese
Charcoal Mary Dillon
Aerial photographs Gavin Duffy
Isotope analysis Jane Evans
Osteoarchaeology Jonny Geber
Plant remains Penny Johnston
Artefact conservation Susannah Kelly
Historical research Alison McQueen
Human bone illustration Malgorzata Kryczka
Soil analysis Stephen Lancaster
Anaiml bones Margaret McCarthy
Early medieval Burial
consultation
Elizabeth O’Brien
Lithic artefacts Farina Sternke
Photography John Sunderland
Reconstruction drawings Dan Tietzsch-Tyler
GIS analysis Maurizio Toscano
Interactive CD-ROM Robin Turk
Archaeometallurgy Tim Young
Radiocarbon dates 14 Chrono Centre at
Queen’s University
11. GIS - Definition
• A geographic information system (GIS), is
any system that captures, stores,
analyses, manages, and presents data
that are linked to location
• GIS is the merging of cartography,
statistical analysis, and database
technology
(Wikipideia)
13. Pre-excavation Planning and
system building
• Eachtra’s Recording Methodology
&
• Maurizio Toscano’s experience in GIS
design and computer science gained in
the Archaeological School of Sienna
15. The system
• Two core elements
• A relational database (Alphanumeric data – Photos,
context sheets and registers)
• A geo-database (store and manage scale drawings)
• The data model was created from scratch to specifically
deal with archaeological data
• The structure was organised to gather all of the
information produced and recorded during an excavation
16. Eachtra Documentation System
Site Steps
Office Steps Read-only open access
map for consultation
Restrict access for map making
and data analysis
Post-Ex update
EAPOD
GIS
Specialist reports
Registers
Post-ex Plans
(Raster and Vector)
Photos
Context
Sheets
17. Relational database
• The use of a proper database instead of a
simple spreadsheet is crucial to the GIS
system as a whole due to the necessity of
ensuring data integrity and the control of
language during data entry
20. Geo-database
• This is used on-site to store the digitised permatrace plans
• Project data – excavation areas, CPO line, OS data, test trenches,
chainage
• Landscape data – Contour, townland, lakes and rivers, RMP sites
and infrastructure
• Geophysical data
• Historic maps
• Aerial Photographs
21. Permatrace plans
• Individual plans are drawn
by grid square (5x5 m.);
• Each grid square plan is
then scanned as a raster
file and put into place by
matching up the grid square
points on the permatrace
drawing to the
corresponding grid square
points on the GIS site plan.
34. Research Themes
Informed by the Review of Needs in Irish Archaeology – Heritage Council 2007
• early medieval settlement and society as reflected by the previously
known sites recorded in the national Sites and Monuments Record
and the new evidence from the cashel sites excavated for this
project
• burial and society in the early medieval period in south Galway
• the Bronze Age landscape of south Galway as reflected by the
previously known sites and stray finds, and new evidence from the
burnt mounds excavated along the new road
• settlement history in south Galway in the 19th and early 20th
centuries as revealed by the demesne landscapes and the
excavated tenant farmstead and clachan settlements
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43. Outcomes
• 23 Final Excavation reports
• Articles
• Banner Display
• Interactive CD
• Monograph Publication - ‘In the Lowlands of
South Galway’
44. Summary of General Benefits
• Planning tool which provides a structure, system and a process – it
becomes a project management tool
• All of the vast amount of data informs the results
• Site plans become an instrument of research – vector data suited to
publication and amalgamation
• Allows for informed analysis of results on a site basis as well as on a
project level
• Allows for streamlined collaboration and Teamwork
• The digital archive becomes a valuable resource
45. Benefits to the N18OG Project
• Completed
• Kept to Programme
• Quality ?
Presentation
Data and Analysis
46. Acknowledgements
• Jerry O’Sullivan, Project Archaeologist
• Tony Collins and Laura Heneghan, Galway County
Council
• Joseph O’Brien, Engineering Consultancy, Hyder Tobin
• Martin Reid, Department of the Environment Heritage,
and Local Government
• The co-operation with the testing and excavation
programme by the landowners along the scheme is also
gratefully acknowledged.
