Geospatial Analysis of Archaeological Sites, Water, and Early Agriculture in Ocampo,

Tamaulipas, Mexico

Brian King, GISP – MGIS candidateDr. Larry Gorenflo – Graduate Adviser

May 7, 2013Department of Geography

Ocampo, Tamaulipas,Mexico

Brian King, GISP

Overview

Anticipated Results

Proposed Methodology

Study Area / Environment

Goals and Objectives

Problem

Background

Timeline / References

Tamaulipas,Mexico

Background

Brian King, GISP

In the 1950s, Richard S. MacNeish excavated archaeological sites in a series of dry caves within the project area near the town of Ocampo. He discovered evidence for the local adoption of domesticated plants and the development of a mixed foraging-farming economy that persisted for millennia, before culminating in the establishment of settled farming villages. From 2005 to 2011, Kevin Hanselka returned to conduct survey and archaeological investigations within the same study area.

The excavations have identified a cultural chronology covering 9,000 years of occupation, revealing an early economy of hunting and gathering present in the project area before slowly transitioning into low-level food production.

Excavations have documented remains of domesticated squash, beans, maize, and gourds, along with a wide range of plants and animals obtained from hunting and gathering.

Problem

Brian King, GISP

To date, the spatial arrangement of archaeological sites within the study area and the effect of early agriculture on regional organization, are poorly understood.

The effects of managing water resources, on the spatial organization of prehistoric cultures in the project area similarly are poorly understood.

Extremely challenging mountainous terrain, with elevations ranging from 1,968-5,177 feet above sea level, make detailed field analyses challenging and GIS-based solutions particularly attractive.

Few archaeologists have used a GIS to produce a hydrological model allowing for the direct examination of water-related issues important to agriculture, such as floodplains and irrigation potential.

Goals and Objective

Goal

Objective

Brian King, GISP

My project goal is to model the river valley floodplain, identify additional water sources located on hill sides, and investigate how these components of local hydrology might have influenced the geographical arrangement of prehistoric sites in the study area.

The analysis will include an aspect analysis, least cost distance analysis to water, distance to water, distance to stream confluence, cost distance to stream confluence, slope, topographic variation, and a view shed analysis within the river valley in an attempt to make inferences about the spatial relationships of previously recorded archaeological sites documented in the project area.

Study Area

Brian King, GISP

Ocampo, Tamaulipas,

Mexico

Environment

Brian King, GISP

Ocampo, Tamaulipas, Mexico

4659 FT

2035 FT

• Steep rugged terrain (travel by walking, burro or horseback)• Tropical savanna climate (Humid)• Dense Forest Vegetation• Perennial and intermittent stream flow

Sites

Project Area

Precipitation

Brian King, GISP

4659 FT

2035 FT

• Average annual precipitation is 700 millimeters (28-inches)• Half of the rainfall occurs between May and September• Short mild winters and long hot summers• Exceptionally heavy rains from occasional cyclones influence overall

precipitation amounts.

Sites

Project Area

18.9 13.9 22.3 26.8 78.5 125.1 74.3 95.5 173.1 70.9 20.5 18.3 738.1

-0.744 -0.547 -0.878 -1.055 -3.091 -4.925 -2.925 -3.76 -6.815 -2.791 -0.807 -0.72 -29.059

Precipitation mm

(Inches)

Precipitation data for Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, a city located north of the project area.

Software

HEC-RASHEC-HMS

RAS-MapperHEC-GeoRAS

USACE ESRI

Proposed Methodology

Brian King, GISP

United States Army Corps of

Engineers(USACE)

Environmental Systems

Research Institute(ESRI)

ArcGIS 10.13D Analyst

Spatial AnalystModelbuilder

Proposed Methodology

Brian King, GISP

Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía

INEGIStream NetworkContours (10m)Precipitation dataTemperature dataSoils / Land use DataGeologyWatersheds / Sub-BasinsVegetation ZonesOrthoimagery (1m / 30m)

DATA

USGSLandsat 7 ETM+ dataPancromatic image 15m

United States Geological Survey

All data have been obtained

GIS Hydrological Floodplain

Brian King, GISP

The

30-Foot Contours (INEGI)Create 3D-Terrain / Raster

Stream Centerline / TributariesSoils / Precipitation / Landuse

HEC-RAS / HEC-HMS /RAS-Mapper / ArcGIS /

HEC-GeoRAS

Floodplain

Landsat Analysis

Brian King, GISP

4

Select four Landsat images from the sameyear representing a typical precipitation andtemperature year

1

2

3

5

Create a 3 band composite image simulating aLandsat 4-3-2 combination. (Band 4 is a goodband to identify land water)

ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Supervised Classification Analysis

Digitize training areas of 4-3-2 water pixels and documentedwater sources provided from ethnographic data.

Overlay final source images and run Trend tool inArcGIS to isolate those areas having extended supplyof water at 3-month intervals.

Watershed

Vegetation

Geology

Elevation

Spatial Analysis

Brian King, GISP

ArchaeologicalSites

(Centroid)

Soils

Land use

Temperature

Spatial Join tool used to combine archaeological Sites to their geomorphic location.

Brian King, GISP

Water Dataset Raster

Spatial Analysis

Viewshed

Topography Raster

Soils / Vegetation

Precipitation

Slope (%)

Aspect

Spatial Analyst Tools

Feature to raster tool

Feature to raster tool

Topography Raster

Topography Raster

Feature to raster tool

Topo to Raster tool

Topography Raster

Brian King, GISP

Water Dataset Raster

Spatial Analysis

Viewshed

Topography Raster

Soils / Vegetation

Precipitation

Slope (%)

Aspect

Intersect each datasetWith Archaeology Site

Centroids

Most Favorable

SlopeAspect

Site ElevationSoils / Vegetation

PrecipitationViewshed

Water Source

Raster Output

Variables

Brian King, GISP

Spatial Analysis

Reclass Suitability System

Slope123

Aspect123

Site Elevation123

Soils / Vegetation123

Precipitation123

Viewshed123

Water Sources123

(1) Most Favorable

(2) Favorable

(3) Least Favorable

Brian King, GISPWater Sources

Spatial Analysis

Viewshed

Site Elevation

Soils / Vegetation

Precipitation

Slope

Aspect

Final Cost Raster

The weighted overlay tool will be used to calculate the weighted value for each cell, for each raster dataset.

Each layer will be assigned a relative importance in percent to create a weighted ranking before these values are combined into a final cost surface raster.

Cost Distance Analysis

Brian King, GISP

The final cost surface raster will be imported into the Spatial Analyst cost distance tool to create a cost distance raster from archaeological sites to water sources.

The cost distance tool creates a raster surface that is continuous to the defined project boundaries revealing the lowest collective cost from each cell to the nearest source, in this case water sources.

It is important to point out that cost can be defined using a variety of variables, including time, level of energy expended.

The Spatial Analyst cost path tool will be used to calculate the most efficient path from the site location to water sources. The cost path tool creates a raster that identifies the least-cost path or paths from a specific location to the closest defined cell using the cost raster surface.

Anticipated Results

Brian King, GISP

I expect that defining the floodplain will reveal potential areas having rich alluvial soils and terraces that can be difficult to identify in this rugged terrain. These areas have a high probability for buried cultural material.

I believe the least cost distance analysis will show the relationship of site location to upland water sources and types of terrain.

Archaeologists already know that farmers are planting successful crops on steeper terrain, suggesting that more research needs to be conducted on farming techniques and crop selection in relation to water resources.

Future research in the area could include a hyperspectral analysis with high resolution imagery and Lidar acquisition to reveal in greater detail those areas having water pools at different elevations.

Timeline

Brian King, GISP

10/27 Present CapstonePresentation to The TexasArchaeological SocietyMeetings in Del Rio, Texas

May2013

June2013

July2013

October2013

06/12 Floodplain Analysis06/19 Landsat Analysis06/30 Geospatial Analysis

07/17 Draft Capstone Report07/24 Revise Report 07/31 Submit Final Report

05/07 Peer Review05/20 Revise Proposal05/28 Begin GEOG596B

References

Brian King, GISP

Binford, Lewis R., 1980. Willow Smoke, Dogs Tails, Hunter-gatherer Settlement Systems. American Antiquity, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Jan., 1980), pp. 4-20.

Dorshow, Wetherbee Bryan, 2012. Modeling agricultural potential in Chaco Canyon during the Bonito phase: a predictive geospatial approach. Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 39, Issue 7, July 2012, Pages 2098–2115

Flannery, Kent V. (editor)1976. The Early Mesoamerican Village. Academic Press, Inc., New York.

Hanselka, J. Kevin2010. Informal Planting of Squashes and Gourds by Rural Farmers in Southwestern

Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Implications for the Local Adoption of Food Production in Prehistory. Journal of Ethnobiology 30(1):31-51.

2011. Prehistoric Plant Procurement, Food Production, and Land Use in Southwestern

Tamaulipas, Mexico. PhD. Dissertation, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri.

Kelly, Robert L.1995 The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways. Smithsonian

Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

References

Brian King, GISP

MacNeish, Richard S.1956 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns on the Northeastern Periphery of Meso-America.

In Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the New World, edited by Gordon R. Willey, pp. 140-147.Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, No. 23. Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Incorporated, New York.

1958 Preliminary Archaeological Investigations in the Sierra de Tamaulipas, Mexico. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. New Series. Vol. 48, Part 6.

The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.

1964 The Food-Gathering and Incipient Agriculture Stage of Prehistoric Middle America. In Natural Environment and Early Cultures, edited by R. C. West, pp. 413-426. Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 1. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

Smith, Bruce D.1997 Reconsidering the Ocampo Caves and the Era of Incipient Cultivation in Mesoamerica. American Antiquity 8:342-383.

1998a The Emergence of Agriculture. 2nd ed. Scientific American Library, New York.

1998b Between Foraging and Farming. Science 279:1651-1652.

2005 Documenting the Transition to Food Production along the Borderlands. In The Late Archaic Across the Borderlands: The Transition from Foraging to Farming, edited by Bradley J. Vierra, pp. 300-316. University of Texas Press, Austin.

References

Brian King, GISP

USACE

2013. HEC-GeoRAS: Features Retrieved on March 12, 2013 from

http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-ras/hec-georas.html.

2013 HEC-HMS: Features Retrieved on March 12, 2013 from

http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-hms/features.html.

2013 HEC-RAS:Features. Retrieved on March 12, 2013 from

Weatherbase2013 Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas Monthly – All Weather Averages. Retrieved on April 27, 2013 http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=19467&cityname=Ciudad+Victoria%2C+Tamaulipas%2C+Mexico&units.

Acknowledgements

Dr. Larry J. GorenfloDepartment of Landscape ArchitecturePennsylvania State University

Dr. J. Kevin HanselkaSWCA Environmental ConsultantsAustin, Texas

Brian King, GISP

Celine Finney and Anaïs King, my supportive wife and daughter.

Brian King, GISP

Thank You

QUESTIONS