Archaeological GIS of Northwestern Colchis: a tool for the preservation and research of historical and cultural heritage

DOI: 10.35595/2414-9179-2022-2-28-484-498

View or download the article (Rus)

About the Authors

Galina V. Trebeleva

Institute of Archaeology Russian Academy of Sciences,
Dm. Ulianova str., 19, 117292, Moscow, Russia;
E-mail: trgv@mail.ru

Konstantin A. Glazov

Institute of Archaeology Russian Academy of Sciences,
Dm. Ulianova str., 19, 117292, Moscow, Russia;
E-mail: paradoxsochi@yandex.ru

Vladlen G. Yurkov

Institute of Archaeology Russian Academy of Sciences,
Dm. Ulianova str., 19, 117292, Moscow, Russia;
E-mail: vladlen.yurkov.v@mail.ru

Andrey S. Kizilov

Federal Research Centre the Subtropical Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Yana Fabriziusa str., 2/28, 354002, Sochi, Russia;
E-mail: kiziloff2014@mail.ru

Abstract

The territory of Northwestern Colchis, which today includes both the territory of Abkhazia and the territory of Russia (the Greater Sochi region, Krasnodar Krai), in ancient times was the most important contact zone of many peoples, but has been poorly studied archaeologically. Therefore, full-fledged field research and the creation of a specialized GIS of this territory is an urgent problem. Currently, the territory of Northwestern Colchis is a rapidly developing resort region, which threatens the destruction of historical and cultural heritage sites by anthropogenic activities. The existing GIS today includes 1,780 monuments (dolmens, temples, fortresses, settlements, individual locations and burial grounds without architectural remains above the surface) in the form of point objects. But in recent years, with the development of technologies, orthophotoplanes and DEMs have been included in the GIS structure. Shooting from a UAV and including the obtained models in the GIS structure can solve two problems at once: displaying an archaeological monument in the form of a polygonal theme and obtaining detailed layers displaying landscape conditions. This data will significantly expand the capabilities of GIS. The technique of obtaining an orthophotoplan of an archaeological object was worked out during a series of experiments that helped to identify the basic principles for photogrammetric photography in conditions of dense subtropical vegetation. Another important layer in GIS is historical maps. Their analysis, taking into account the analysis of the semantics of toponymy, the analysis of settlement structures in GIS, and analogies with already known monuments, made it possible to localize a number of toponyms with a high degree of probability. In addition to the analysis of historical maps, the settlement structure itself was analyzed, the main clusters were identified, and a predictive model of the missing fortresses of the Pontic Limes was created.

Keywords

geographic information systems, archaeological heritage protection, historical maps, archaeological monuments, photogrammetry, digital landscape models, settlement structures, toponyms

References

  1. Afanasyev G.E., Savenko S.N., Korobov D.S. Antiquities of the Kislovodsk basin. Moscow: Scientific world, 2004. 240 p. (in Russian).
  2. Agapiou A., Vioni A., Papantoniou G. Detection of archaeological surface ceramics using deep learning image-based methods and very high-resolution UAV imageries. Land. 2021. 10. 1365. DOI: 10.3390/land10121365.1365.
  3. Begletsova S.V., Knyazeva L.F., Telegina M.V. Geoinformation system of monuments of historical and cultural heritage of Udmurtia. Archeology and Geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS. 2005. Issue 2. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-2/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  4. Belinsky A.B. Application of methods of remote sensing of the Earth in the creation of the geoinformation system “Archaeological heritage of the Stavropol Territory”. Works II (XVIII) All-Russian Archaeological Congress in Suzdal. Moscow: IA RAS, 2008. Vol. III. P. 260–261 (in Russian).
  5. Campana S. Drones in archaeology: state-of-the-art and future perspectives. Archaeological prospection. 2017. No. 24. P. 275–296. DOI: 10.1002/arp.1569.
  6. Carpenter J. Geometry open-source GIS for archaeology. Archaeology in New Zealand. 2008. Vol. 51 (4). P. 257–263.
  7. Castillo L.J. Arqueología desde el Aire. Gaceta cultura del Peru. 2014. No. 46. P. 2–7.
  8. Castillo L.J. Drones y arqueología: vuelos e imágenes. Arqueometría: estudios analíticos de materiales arqueológicos. Eds. Rémy Chapoulie, Marcela Sepúlveda, Nino Del Solar Velarde, and Véronique Wright. Lima: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos. 2018. P. 629–662.
  9. Christaller W. Die zentralen Orte in Süddeutschland eine ökonomisch-geographische Untersuchung über die Gesetzmässigkeit der Verbreitung und Entwicklung der Siedlungen mit städtischen Funktionen. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Publ., 1980. 331 p. (in German).
  10. Daragan M. The use of GIS technologies in studying the spatial and time concentration of Tumuli in the Scythian-time lower Dnieper region. Tumulus as Sema: Space, Politics, Culture and Religion in the First Millennium BC. Ed. Olivier Henry. Berlin/Boston: Ute Kelp, 2016. P. 669–675.
  11. Fomenko I.K. The image of the world on ancient portolans. The Black Sea region. The end of the XIII–XVII century. Second edition. Moscow: Publishing house “Indrik”, 2011. 424 p. (in Russian).
  12. Khomyakova O.A., Skhodnov I.N. Visualization methods in the study of the cultural landscape of the monuments of the Southeastern Baltic states of the first half of the I millennium AD. Archeology and geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS, 2019. Issue 9. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-9/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  13. Kizilov A.S., Trebeleva G.V. Etymology of the toponyms Derbent and Anakopia and their localization on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Problems of regional ecology. 2021. No. 4. P. 72–82. DOI: 10.24412/1728-323X-2021-4-72-82 (in Russian).
  14. Klein L.S. History of archaeological thought. A course of lectures. Saint Petersburg, 2005. Part 1. 438 p. (in Russian).
  15. Korobov D.S. Fundamentals of geoinformatics in Archaeology: Textbook. Moscow: Moscow University Press, 2011. 224 p. (in Russian).
  16. Korobov D.S. New results of computer GIS modeling of resource zones of the Alan settlements of the Kislovodsk basin of the I millennium AD. Archeology and geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS, 2017. Issue 8. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-8/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  17. Makarov N.A., Zelentsova O.V., Korobov D.S., Voroshilov A.N., Chernikov A.P. Geoinformation System “Archaeological monuments of Russia”: methodological approaches to development and the first results of filling. Brief Reports of the Institute of Archaeology. 2015. Issue 237. P. 7–19 (in Russian).
  18. McNeal G.S. Drones and the future of aerial surveillance. George Washington Law. 2016. Review 84. [Electronic document]. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2498116 (accessed 05.06.2022).
  19. Mlekuž D. Time geography, GIS and archaeology. Proceedings of the 38th Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Granada. Spain, April, 2010. P. 1–7.
  20. Ochir-Goryaeva M.A., Dumkeeva V.Ts. The experience of creating a digital map of archaeological sites excavated on the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia Archeology and Geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS, 2008. Issue 5. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-5/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  21. Parcak S. Mapping on a budget: a low-cost UAV approach for the documentation of prehispanic fields in Atacama (N. Chile). SAA Archaeological. 2016. Record 2 (16). P. 17–21.
  22. Petrov M.I. GIS inside the excavation: mass material Archeology and geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS, 2017. Issue 8. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-8/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  23. Savage S.H. GIS in archaeological research, Interpreting Space: GIS and archaeology. Ed. by: K.M.S. Allen, S.W. Green, E.B.W. Zubrow. London, New York, Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 1990. P. 22–32.
  24. Sizov O.S., Tsimbarevich P.R., Zimina O.Yu., Zakh V.A. Web-geoinformation technologies in the study of the life support system of the ancient population on the example of the Turo-Pyshminsky interfluve (Tyumen region). Archaeology and geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS, 2021. Issue 10. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-10/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  25. Smekalov S.L., Fedorov D.L. Geoinformation technologies in archaeological research. St. Petersburg: Baltic. state technical university, 2004. 104 p. (in Russian).
  26. Trebeleva G.V. GIS technologies in the security archeology of the Moscow region (from the experience of the Moscow Region expedition of IA RAS). Archeology of the Moscow region. Materials of the Scientific seminar. Moscow: IA RAS, 2004. P. 216–220 (in Russian).
  27. Trebeleva G.V., Gorlov Yu.V. GIS technologies: use in research on the Taman and the Abkhazian coast. Archaeology and geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS. 2005. Issue 2. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-2/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  28. Trebeleva G.V., Gorlov Yu.V. The cultural landscape of the Taman Peninsula in antiquity. Problems of regional ecology. 2019. No. 1. P. 39–46. DOI: 10.24411/1728-323X-2019-11039 (in Russian).
  29. Trebeleva G.V., Kizilov A.S. Once again to the question of the Pontic Limes: the principles of the location of ancient fortifications of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Tavrichesky Studios. 2020. No. 22. P. 153–159 (in Russian).
  30. Trebeleva G.V., Kizilov A.S. Localization of the late Antique and medieval church of St. Sophia on the Black Sea Coast of the Caucasus. Problems of regional ecology. 2022. No. 1. P. 165–170. DOI: 10.24412/1728-323X-2022-1-149-154 (in Russian).
  31. Trebeleva G.V., Sakania S.M., Kizilov A.S., Glazov K.A. Abzhuiskaya Abkhazia, Tamysh (Toumysh) and Dgamsh river basin area: reconstruction of settlement structure based on spatial analysis of temple architecture monuments. Problems of regional ecology. 2020. No. 6. P. 72–85. DOI: 10.24411/1728-323X-2020-6-072-085 (in Russian).
  32. Trebeleva G.V., Sakania S.M., Glazov K.A., Kizilov A.S., Yurkov G.Yu. Late Antique and medieval temples of Abkhazia: GIS, photogrammetry research and creation of 3D models. Archaeology and geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS, 2021. Issue 10. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-10/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).
  33. Trebeleva G., Glazov K., Kizilov A., Kizilova A., Yurkov V., Yurkov G. Advanced technologies used in digitizing the cultural heritage of northwestern colchis: the experience of the markul expedition. Applied Sciences. 2022. Vol. 12. Issue 4. 2052. DOI: 10.3390/app12042052.
  34. Verhagen Ph. Spatial analysis in archaeology: moving into new territories digital geoarchaeology. Natural Science in Archaeology. 2018. P. 11–25. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-25316-9_2.
  35. Wechsler S., Lipo C., Lee Ch., Terry L. Hunt technology in the skies: benefits of commercial UAS for archaeological applications. SAA Archaeological. 2016. Record 2 (16). P. 36–42.
  36. Zelentsova O.V., Voroshilov A.N., Strokov A.A. Archaeological sites of Russia: preliminary testing of the capabilities of the IA RAS information system on the materials of the Taman Peninsula. Problems of history, philology, culture. 2021. No. 3. P. 160–175 (in Russian).
  37. Zubarev V.G., Smekalov S.L. The use of GIS to identify possible routes of ancient roads of the Eastern Crimea on maps of the XIX century). Archaeology and geoinformatics. Moscow: IA RAS, 2019. Issue 9. [Electronic resource]. https://www.archaeolog.ru/media/periodicals/agis/AGIS-9/index.html (accessed 05.06.2022) (in Russian).

For citation: Trebeleva G.V., Glazov K.A., Yurkov V.G., Kizilov A.S. Archaeological GIS of Northwestern Colchis: a tool for the preservation and research of historical and cultural heritage. InterCarto. InterGIS. GI support of sustainable development of territories: Proceedings of the International conference. Moscow: MSU, Faculty of Geography, 2022. V. 28. Part 2. P. 484–498. DOI: 10.35595/2414-9179-2022-2-28-484-498 (in Russian)