Land Units Mapping and Land Evaluation Applied to Archaeology

This work was developed to train graduate students as part of the Delphi4Delphi project dealing with the digital reconstruction of the archaeological site of Delphi. In this part of the project, various technologies were used for 3-d digital mapping cultural heritage structures for maintenance and restoration purposes. The use of various surveying technologies such as UAS, Total station, digital camera, Lidar scanner and GPS to map in 3d the remaining of the monument Tholos and the surrounding area in Delphi Greece and based on such mapping to restore the entire structure is covered in detail. The remains of such monuments are a few columns standing up joined with original elements on top. In this part of the project GPS was used to establish the reference system, total station was used to measure a number of control points for UAS, close range photogrammetry and Lidar scanner, UAS was used to map precisely the surrounding area together with the structure, close range photogrammetry and Lidar scanner were used to map the vertical surfaces of the structure. Processing of above data from all surveying technologies created enough point cloud to map precisely the remains of the structure and expand their architectural design to precisely restore the entire Tholos monument. Also all digital data are used by software for the construction of 3D terrain and 3D models which when inserted into Game Engines software aim at the creation of educational scenarios.

There is growing demand for biogeographical landscape classifications and ecological maps that describe
patterns of spatially co-varying biotic and abiotic ecosystem components. This demand is fuelled by increasing
data availability and processing capacity, by institutional practices of land and water resource management
and planning and by the growth of transdisciplinary science that requires the development of a shared
conceptual framework through which to view landscape character and behaviour. Despite the widespread
use of ecological maps, and the extent to which they have become embedded in institutional practice, policy
and law, no standard approach to ecosystem mapping has emerged, such that there are many valid ways of
mapping the same landscape. Consensus is possible only when there is agreement on the spatial entities to be
mapped. We propose a way of defining such entities and identifying them in any given landscape. Landscapes
are conceived in terms of a conceptual biophysical template that constrains a wide range of ecological
processes at various hierarchical levels. The template is conceived as comprising co-evolved associations of
soils, vegetation, topography and hydrology that form a dynamic mosaic characteristic of a particular
topographic, climatic and geological context that is continually being shaped by many perturbations. We
synthesise themes from vegetation, soil and river sciences, using hierarchy theory to frame a perspective that
facilitates the definition of mappable landscape entities at three hierarchical levels of organisation. These
entities are conceived as archetypal structural-functional units, with form and process linked in conceptual
models that underpin each archetype. We describe how our approach has been used to map ecological
entities in Kruger National Park, South Africa, showing how the proposed framework integrates key system components, providing transparent foundations for transdisciplinary approaches to landscape management
and science.

SuperMap GIS is developed by SuperMap Software Co., Ltd and it is a complete integration of a series of GIS platform software, including Desktop GIS, Service GIS, Component GIS and Mobile GIS platforms and spatial data production, processing and management tools. Through continuous technological innovation, market exploring and experiences accumulation, SuperMap GIS has constructed a good GIS software brand with full angle, and strong functions which can meet different requirements for a wide range of industries, and it has been deeply applied in each GIS industry in China, inspiring a large number of secondary development companies. With years of efforts of SuperMap Japan, SuperMap GIS has become a famous GIS brand in Japan, and it has successfully developed more than one thousand users, creating the first international market. At the same time, SuperMap has been energetically exploring the markets in Hongkong, Macao, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Europe, India, South Africa, etc., gaining more and more acceptance from the local government and enterprises.

The main product series now are SuperMap 7C series products and SuperMap 6R series products

In the common support of the developers and users, SuperMap has become Asia's largest provider of GIS software platform.

This paper faces the issue whether the land surrounding the site of Castel di Pietra would have been able to supply sufficient food resources to support the communities that have populated this territory between Antiquity and the middle Ages, apart from the mineral resources of the area.
To such aim, a physical landscape survey (land units map) of the territory was carried out, covering a surface of ca. 6800 hectares in scale 1:25.000, calibrated on the site catchment's area. The appraisal of the production potential of the territory (land evaluation) was done matching the physical and environmental features of the single cartographic units with the requirements that specific cultivations put to the land. The land utilization types considered are arable land, vineyard, orchard, olive grove, pasture, and forest. Land evaluation was conducted for several historical periods.
Based upon this procedure, and by comparison with historical, archaeological and agronomical data, for the Middle Ages a model of the potential wheat production was developed, leading to an assessment of the maximum number of people that the site catchment of Castel di Pietra could have supported.

This paper reports on the results of archaeological and geographical field work conducted in 1998 and 1999 by members of the Regional Pathways to Complexity project in the coastal landscape of South Lazio (Italy). The protohistoric (Bronze Age to Archaic) settlement history of this area is dominated by its marginal position with respect to the proto-urban settlements of the Alban hills and the Lepine margin, and in the historic period (post-Archaic to Roman Imperial) by the strategic and economic interests of Rome. A preliminary reconstruction of the dynamics of both the physical and the human landscape is given for both periods. The interpretation of the results of the field walking survey and the reconstruction of potential protohistoric and Roman land use are both informed by an analysis of recent changes in the physical environment – especially the Bonificà carried out in the 1920s.

The aim of this work was to detect imprints on soil properties from former Islamic land use (9th to 11th century) using a multi-method, soil-chemical approach. Four soil profiles (with buried horizons) found in the vicinities of former Islamic settlements in Sicily were analysed for phosphorus (total, organic and inorganic), nitrogen (total, NO3− and NH4+), carbon compounds (δ13C, lipids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and functional groups), physical and chemical C-fractions and the state of soil weathering. Two soil profiles contained ceramic sherds from the Islamic period. Inorganic nitrogen forms, phosphorous and the PAH content indicated strong impacts from traditional agriculture and/or burning. Radiocarbon dating of soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions from buried horizons showed that distinct changes must have occurred during the Islamic epoch. The isotopic composition of SOC indicated that land use was probably different in earlier times. C4 plant cultivation was expected but surprisingly lipid analyses did not confirm this. A high amount of aliphates and low C/N ratio indicated a good, long-term SOC stabilisation under the native conditions combined with Islamic land use. The irrigation of the soils probably increased the production of weakly-crystalline Fe forms that helped to stabilise SOC.

The multi-method approach was very helpful in deciphering human-induced processes. Although a full proof for each parameter is not given, former Islamic land-use seems to have distinctly affected the soils – not only locally but probably also in other areas of Sicily, Northern Africa, Near East and Iberian Peninsula.