Construction of an archaeology and cultural heritage oriented GIS in order to document an ancient city: Case study of the archaeological site of Grand (France)

Abstract

Summary form only given. This work presents the first steps of an archaeology and cultural heritage G.I.S. implementation on the archeological site of Grand in order to document the archeological map. The GIS project belongs to the branch of gathering documentation and studies of collections in the Collective Research Project (CPR) "L'agglomeration antique de Grand"[1]. The implementation of a G.I.S. tool makes possible a precise location of old excavations. All the archeological operations are no longer separate but gathered and synthesized in order to build a coherent spatial database on the scale of the entire archeological site. The short-term target is to share archeological information, while the long-term goal is to keep on backfilling and updating this database. This G.I.S. implementation is the first step to go further on in spatial analysis. This project is supported by the archeological team of the Conseil General des Vosges [2], in collaboration with the G.I.S. team in the Conseil General in Epinal. At the end of the 2013 excavation campaign, the archeological map of the site contained in the G.I.S. will be loaded into the Cultural file of the Conseil General G.I.S. The G.I.S. modelling with the archaeological data from Grand is an experience to repeat with others sites in the G.I.S. of the Conseil General. The update of old archaeological data is a stake for data conservation and spread. The diffusion of spatial data goes over the archaeological subject: G.I.S. is not only a spatial management tool. It becomes also a human science research tool that can bring closer territorial institutions and research groups from a variety of background. This project follows several G.I.S. archeological projects that prove the relevance of G.I.S. as an archeological tool. After compiling a state of the art file of various G.I.S. projects, this set of references has been used as references to validate the choice of the project. In this regard, we can mention the HO-FET model [3] (Historical Object, Function, spacE and Time) developped by the ISA network [4]. This model has a general purpose because it aims at the understanding of a complex urban system in a large scale of time. The seizing of urban space is realized through the notion of Historical Object (HO). An HO is defined by its 3 dimensions : 1. Function (social use); 2. Space (localisation, width and morphology); 3. Time (dating, chronology). The G.I.S. project is precisely described though milestones of the project, data modeling and working hypothesis. The first step was the definition of the needs. Then, the Conceptual Model of the Data (CMD) of the GIS project is an adaptation of the HOFET model to Grand's case, to the available data and to the GIS goals. The present day land register has been elected as mother layer in cross-referencing purpose. The land register served as a bottom layer to establish many excavation maps. The landmarks on the land register help us to locate sites documented by ancient documents. Using the current land register presents an other advantage which is the possible digitalising of old land register papers (dating from 1886, also called “cadastre napoleonien”) in order to fullfil the spatial layers. In conclusion, a provisional balance is drawn and new perspectives are sketched out for the future. The initial phase of the GIS is over, defining the needs, the construction of the data architecture. The further development is the data integration to create a topographical atlas of the archaeological site of Grand. The GIS project lead to create a geo historical system of reference [5]: it becomes a human science collaborative and effective research tool for the convenience of the researchers.