An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

Information Systems (GIS) approach that allowed for large study areas of variable scales
and datasets to be analyzed in a dynamic spatial manner (see Whitley 2000;2001).
I collected information from previous archaeological settlement surveys that had
been conducted in the region, and merged them with available environmental data. The
recorded locational and temporal data were produced from surveys that had been
conducted by Borstein (2001), Kruger (1996), and Symonds (2000;1997). Because the
data were collected by different researchers the level of consistency and standardization
between the surveys may not be uniform. Nonetheless, the observations are satisfactory
to provide a broad overview of internal and regional settlement patterns.
These data were integrated into a GIS format by plotting X and Y coordinates and
bringing all the datasets into a consistent projection that enabled depiction of site
locations relative to available satellite imagery. Site chronology data from the surveys
were assigned to Early Formative (c. 1500-900 BC), Middle Formative (c. 900-400 BC),
and Late Formative (c. 300 BC-AD 150) designations. Sites sizes and types ranged from
small artifact scatters to primary centers. The intention of this initial effort was simply to
see if patterns within the surveyed settlement areas could be detected and observed across
time.
Figures 4.20, 4.21, and 4.22 show the results of these analyses. Through the
visualization of these datasets, it appears that a substantial decline in population occurred
following the Early Formative period and continued through the Late Formative period.
Although the survey reports that produced these data held that populations and
settlements declined during this time, the visualization of the data immediately provoked
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