AN INTRODUCTION TO METAPONTO

AND THE LAGO DEL LUPO DATA

This page is available in a framed version.  For convenience, a Full Table of Contents is provided.

Instructions for this exercise using Atlas GIS

The data set, provided by Joseph C. Carter of the UT Classics Department, consists of sites in a defined area of the Metaponto chora (territory). The Metaponto chora (named for the ancient urban center of Metaponto within its boundaries) is roughly defined as the area extending 10-12 Km northwest from the coastline, and contained by the Bradano and Basento Rivers, in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Lago del Lupo is a modern regional designation comprising a large portion of the ancient chora, and it provides a convenient base map from which the data set can be organized. Thus, all Lago del Lupo sites are from the Metaponto chora, but not all of the chora sites are in the Lago del Lupo data set. In addition, the Lago del Lupo data set should not be confused with the Lago del Lupo site which was excavated as part of the Metaponto Project. The Lago del Lupo data was digitized by Naomi Cleghorn, now a graduate student in the UT Anthropology Department, as part of her undergraduate honors thesis.

1. About this Exercise

From around 600 BC. to 300 BC., colonists from Greece spread out through the Mediterranean and Black Sea. They brought with them their distinctive culture and all it encompassed--their agricultural economy, pottery, architectural styles, land tenure system, political systems, and religion. This Greek influence can be seen in the cultural landscape created by the Greeks in southern Italy. The more than 300- year span of their occupation in Italy is more than a colonial intrusion; consider that the European colonization of North American has not gone on much longer, and North Americans consider themselves to be quite different from European forebears. This exercise is first an introduction to GIS; second, it allows us to examine aspects of how the Greeks colonized the southern Italian landscape.

You will be creating a shape file of the region colonized by Greeks in southern Italy, importing a database to create an "event theme", then using the themes you've created to analyze the settlement pattern through time. This exercise does not have a fieldwork component (don't we wish we could go to Italy…).

2. Early Greek Colonization.

Chronicling Greek colonization is a complex and confusing task. This is primarily due to the constant state of flux which characterized early Greek civilization. Classic Greek civilization, frequently referred to as a single entity by historians, was in reality, a group of individually governed city-states that shared similar cultural attributes. These self- governed municipalities were actually colonies themselves. From the time of their formation sometime after 1200 BC, until Roman conquest in 146 BC, these independent municipalities competed with each other, as well as with their Persian neighbors for control of the Aegean Sea and its associated territories. Thus, Greek refers to a culture rather than a specific governing body.

What may seem as a trivial point is actually a very important concept. Ancient Greek colonies were, in many respects, independent polities. There most definitely were political and economic ties with their founding territories, but the idea that these were far reaching extensions of an imperialistically motivated, unified Greek regime is erroneous. Greek colonization, therefore, should be thought of as an introduction of Greek culture into a new area by any one of a number of contemporaneous Greek civilizations.

With this in mind, it is not surprising that Greek colonization persisted, almost continuously, throughout ancient Greek history. Nevertheless, certain periods witnessed a greater degree of colonization than others. The period between 750 and 550 BC, for example, marked the first large-scale exodus of Greek culture from the Aegean, and was mainly targeted towards the Crimea and Marseilles. This expansion was motivated by an increased demand for trade goods by the flourishing and rapidly growing Aegean city- states. Another important period of colonization began around 440 BC, and was largely a consequence of peace (the war between Athenian allies and Persia ended in 448 BC, and the war between Athens and Sparta ended in 445 BC). Establishing colonies in Italy, Sicily, and the Black Sea territories were the main objectives this time.

Although these periods of colonization are well documented, they are typically generalized. New colonies are usually only referred to as Greek, even though a particular Greek territory was most likely responsible for the colonizing effort. Linking a colony to a particular Greek territory requires an extensive study of both the colony and any potential region of origin. Only relatively recently, have such detailed studies become commonplace.

3. Greek Settlement of Metaponto.

Sometime between 800 and 700 BC, adventurous Greek merchants began scouring the Mediterranean in search of tradewares for their home territories. As a consequence, several Greek colonies began to form along the southern coastlines of Italy and Sicily. This trend continued through the seventh century BC, as some of these new polities began to establish colonies themselves. The indigenous populations initially resisted, but they soon either fled inland or were acculturated. The Greeks brought with them a highly organized agricultural system which enabled the colonies to flourish. Metaponto was one such colony. Fueled by Athenian prosperity, the late Classical and early Hellenistic periods (350-275 BC) saw in influx of new settlements into southern Italy, and Metaponto continued to grow.

 Though the city of Metaponto was successful in its own right, it was the Metaponto chora that enabled the system to work. This symbiotic complex between the rural chora and urban center characterized the majority of Greek colonies, not just Metaponto. What makes Metaponto unique is that it is one of the few places where this relationship is directly observable in the archaeological record.

4. UT Archaeology at Metaponto.

Archaeologists were first attracted to the Metaponto chora in 1959, when a series of ancient land division lines showed up in aerial photographs. Subsequent surveys of rural sites by an international crew in 1965 directly led to UT's involvement, beginning in 1974.

The Metaponto chora, provides an appealing archaeological opportunity for several reasons. First, the preservation of land division lines is rare. Very few sites still exhibit these ancient clues to rural land organization, and the potential information that they offer is immense. A second consideration is that, like most parts of the world, good land is a prime commodity in southern Italy, and archaeological sites continue to lose out to agricultural expansion. A final factor is that few studies have concentrated solely on rural settlements. Urban sites tend to receive the majority of archaeological attention and resources (the ancient urban center of Metaponto, for example, has been undergoing excavation for decades). An opportunity to shed light on unexplored areas is a goal of every archaeologist.

 The goals of the UT Metaponto project, since its inception, have been to chronicle the changes in livelihood of the rural populations that inhabited the Metaponto chora, throughout Greek and Roman occupation (about 700 BC - 400 AD). Over the years, the project has evolved into a international multi-disciplinary collaboration, where specialists in the various sub-fields of archaeology could pool the resources and work towards a common goal. Accomplishments include the survey of a 42 square kilometer area (revealing over 500 sites), extensive excavation and study of ancient crops and fauna, as well as the excavation of almost a dozen rural sites, including several burials . Thousands of artifacts have been collected to aid in the analysis (including several hand- painted vases and other ceramic vessels ). In addition to Metaponto, the field crew has been working in the chora of Croton since 1983, conducting similar investigations.

 Though analysis and interpretation phases of the study are still ongoing, much has been learned about the chora's inhabitants. Thanks to multi-disciplinary efforts, we now know intimate details about the health and nutrition, working conditions, eating habits, agricultural techniques, burial practices, material goods , and many other aspects of the everyday lives of the rural population of the Metaponto chora. To learn more about Metapontine history and archaeology, please refer to the References section of this introduction.

5. References

Carter, J. C. Excavation in the Territory of Metaponto 1976. Institute of Classical Archaeology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1977.

 Carter, J. C. Excavations at Metaponto, 1978. Institute of Classical Archaeology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1978.

 Carter, J. C. Excavations at Metaponto, 1979. Institute of Classical Archaeology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1979.

 Carter, J. C. Excavations in the Territory, Metaponto, 1980. Institute of Classical Archaeology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1980.

 Carter, J. C. (editor). The Territory of Metaponto 1981-1982. Institute of Classical Archaeology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1977.

 Carter, J. C. (editor). The Pantanello Necropolis 1982-1989: An Interim Report. Institute of Classical Archaeology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1990.

 Henneberg, Maciej, Renata Henneberg, and Joseph Coleman Carter. Health in Colonial Metaponto. National Geographic Research & Exploration, 8(4):446-459, 1992.

 Uden, Grant (editor). Greece (Ancient). Longman Illustrated Encyclopedia of World History: 375-378, Ivy Leaf, London, 1989.

6. Project Instructions

ArcView has a number of analytic and graphic capabilities:

 1. You can digitize maps, combining a number of sources, and edit these on the computer. The resulting electronic maps can contain up to 250 separate layers. You can think of these layers as overlays. On a metropolitan area map, for example, you might have separate layers for roads, soils, hydrology (rivers, lakes, streams, etc.), land use, census tracts, public buildings, and utilities. These layers can be turned off and on. If you only need to look at roads and utilities, you can turn off the other layers so that they don't get in the way.

 2. Using a built-in database system, you may enter, edit, display, and query data concerning these features. This data, called attribute data, is kept in spreadsheet form in separate files linked to the maps. The user creates the structure of these spreadsheets, and can edit them at any time.

 3. You can select certain spatial or attribute features for display, query, and analysis.

 4. Using built-in analytical tools, you can combine features and aggregate their data

 using several different statistical methods, split features and disaggregate their data, create buffer regions around features, and perform point-in-polygon and similar operations.

 5. You may assign geographic coordinates to address records in your database using an address-matching operation. This allows these records to be displayed, queried, and analyzed like any other feature.

 6. You may produce thematic maps to graphically display information based on attribute data. Thematic map possibilities in ArcView include dot-density, proportional, ranged, and bi-variate maps. The system calculates the statistics necessary for creating these maps, and includes several ranging methods. The user controls all graphic aspects (e.g., color, shading, and fill pattern).

 7. The program contains tools for setting various presentation parameters (e.g., page size, legends, and layout design) and freehand drawing tools. Paper copies of the maps can be made on printers or plotters.

 8. Attribute data may be imported from or exported to some other programs.
 

7. ArcView File Types

To understand ArcView, you must be familiar with our basic kinds of files.

 1. Shape (.shp) files contain the map features of your workspace, i.e., the locational information. These map features consist of points, lines, and regions (the latter are also referred to as polygons or areas). These map features are assigned to various layers which the user defines, so that features of one type (e.g., roads) can be kept distinct from other types (e.g., census tract boundaries). This allows map features to be displayed, edited, and manipulated more easily. The Geo file keeps the x-y coordinates of each of these features on a separate spreadsheet, along with some very basic information, including the layer in which each feature is found, and its name. Each feature is also assigned a unique ID by which it is identified.

 2. Attribute tables (.dbf) contain non-graphic information about each layer of your workspace. You define the types of attribute information to include. In a city GIS, for example, you might have census tract and census block pictures as geographic features on the map. The Attribute table might then contain information on population by tract and block, and the number of houses, businesses, schools, churches, etc. within each tract and block. None of this information appears on the map itself, but can be brought onto the computer screen in spreadsheet form. Each row of an Attribute table is linked to its corresponding geographic feature by the column of your choice.

 3. Point tables are a combination of Geo files and Attribute tables, and are most useful for features that change with time. A Point table contains a row for one point (or location) on the map and its attribute information. The table also has the x-y coordinates for that point. You can think of Point tables like pins on a wall map marking the location of significant places or events. For example a city transportation office might want to keep a record of where traffic collisions occur, or monitor commuter flow. In the first case it would want a "pin" at the site of each traffic collision, and corresponding attribute information concerning causes, injuries, damage, etc. In the second case, it might want a "pin" for every place of business employing over 50 people, and information about type of business, parking, hours of operation, etc. The information in Point tables could be subdivided up between Geo files and Attribute tables, just as you could continually redraft paper maps to include new information. As with using pins on a wall map, however, a Point table allows you to create an overlay which requires fewer steps to update as the need arises.

 4. Project files (.apr) contain complete descriptions of the workspaces, including the names of the Geo files, Attribute tables and Point tables used in the workspace, plus the program settings (e.g., scale, title, page layout, symbols, etc.). Although the Project file won't actually contain any of your geographic, attribute, or datapoint data, it does keep a list of where all these files are stored. The Project file is useful because it saves time. By loading the Project file, you load your complete workspace, rather than having to load the separately. But remember, if you have moved some of your Geo files, Attribute tables and Point tables since you created a Project file, the Project file won't be able to recreate your workspace because its list of previous file locations will be incorrect.


 

Archaeologists at Metaponto, Italy

 8. About this Exercise

From around 600 BC. to 300 BC., colonists from Greece spread out through the Mediterranean and Black Sea. They brought with them their distinctive culture and all it encompassed--their agricultural economy, pottery, architectural styles, land tenure system, political systems, and religion. This Greek influence can be seen in the cultural landscape created by the Greeks in southern Italy. The more than 300- year span of their occupation in Italy is more than a colonial intrusion; consider that the European colonization of North American has not gone on much longer, and North Americans consider themselves to be quite different from European forebears. This exercise is first an introduction to GIS; second, it allows us to examine aspects of how the Greeks colonized the southern Italian landscape.
 

9. Downloading the Data

To begin, you need to ftp to austin.grg.utexas.edu using the anonymous login. Open the METAPONT/Arcview directory and download the metaponto.zip file. Make sure the the transfer format is set to binary. You must use WinZip to Open the metaponto.zip file in your directory. Highlight all of the files, then select Extract. This will unzip all the Lago files.

Alternatively, the files can be obtained from the download directory by clicking on each file while holding down the shift key.

Note: Please take a look at the last page of this exercise first. The "What to hand in" section may influence your approach to it.

10. Starting ArcView

To run ArcView, click on the START button, then follow the path to PROGRAMS, ESRI, ArcView.

 The program takes time to load. Once loaded, the ArcView Window appears. Automatically opening within this window is a window named "Untitled ". This is your working area or page.

11. Creating a Project File

Put your diskette containing the LAGO files in the A:drive of the computer. This is the diskette you formatted previously and the one to which you copied the LAGO files during class.

 On the ArcView main menu, highlight the File command so that its pull-down menu appears, then select New Project. You will have to create a VIEW in which to load the ArcView themes containing the data for this project. Once the VIEW is created (VIEW1), add your first theme. This will be the LAGO theme. Remember it's on your floppy disk.

12. Adding Event Themes

The LAGO theme contains the outline and "division lines" of the Metaponto dig, but no information about specific sites. This information is contained in a database that has not yet been converted into a geographic theme. You must use the database to create an EVENT THEME (Chapter 25 of GTKAV).

13. The View Commands

Now that you have files loaded, you can begin experimenting with your workspace. To enlarge the map so that it fills the working area, choose View | Full Extent.

 Next, from the Tool Box, choose Zoom In. This is the button with the magnifying glass and the + sign. This allows you to zoom in on a certain area by creating a "zoom box" which defines the area to be enlarged. Position the cursor where you would like the first corner of the zoom box to be set (notice that on the bottom of the screen, the status line for X and Y show the changing longitude and latitude coordinates of the cursor. When the cursor is where you want it, press the left button down and hold it. While holding the button down, move the cursor and you will see a dynamic zoom box grow. To set the opposite corner, position the box where you want it and release the button. The screen is automatically redrawn to the new scale (the new scale is shown in the status area).

 From the Tool Box, choose Zoom Out, which is the button with a magnifying glass and a - sign. This is a trickier process. When you set the zoom box under this command, the currently displayed map area shrinks to fit within the new zoom box, thereby bringing a wider portion of the map into view. You may have to experiment with this operation a few times to get the hang of it, but it can be very useful when you find that you've zoomed in too close on a feature and want to pull back a bit.

  To pan across the map in any direction by locating a new center for display, choose the Pan button on the Tool Box, which looks like a hand. Try it. When you move the cursor back into the map frame, it will appear as a hand. To move the map, press and hold the left button of the mouse. Note that you are simultaneously moving a box representing the map area. Release the button when the outline box is positioned where you want it.

14. Layer Display

 tomb site, Metaponto, Italy

 There are four Themes in the METAPONTO ZIP file: Steams, Transect, Division, and Allsites.    In addition to the three themes, there is one database file containing the latitude, longitude, and attribute information for all the sites found in the Metaponto transect. This database is called LAGO.DBF. The Allsites theme contains points showing where the sites are in the transect but contains no information about the individual sites' characteristics. This is all found in LAGO.DBF. As a first step you should convert LAGO.DBF into a shape file by ADDING an EVENT THEME. Refer to your Getting to Know ArcView book or the ArcView manual for instructions.

15. Exploring the Metaponto Data Using Thematic Mapping

In this section you will explore the type and ages of sites in the study area by mapping them several times. You are probably familiar with maps that use color coding, variable shading, dot- density, and proportional symbols to display data.  Thematic mapping in ArcView allows you to choose one or two variables from the attribute files for display in ranged maps, proportional maps, or dot-density maps. The program will calculate the necessary statistics for you, but also allows you to adjust these yourself to fine-tune your display.

 Click on the check boxes in the View Table of Contents and make sure that the Division and layer is off, as you will be working with Lago and Streams.

 Now, highlight the Lago layer in the table of contents, then double click on it to bring up the legend dialogue box.. You want to create a GRADUATED COLOR map displaying the different TYPES of site.

Now, click on the Classify button. Take a minute to examine the graduated color dialog box. In the top pulldown menu are classification options you can change. Pick Equal Interval as the ranging method, and type in the number 5 as the Number of Classes. Click on the OK button and watch the modifications made to accommodate the 5 ranges. Now, select the first row in the column Values and type 0, then hit Enter. Now, using the arrow keys, move down this column and insert the values 1,2,3,4, respectively, for ranges 2 through 5. Apply, again, to have ArcView divide the data according to your list.

 After ArcView has re-divided the data, study the distribution of the site types. The codes for this variable are: 0 is for unknown; 1 is for farms; 2 is for tombs; 3 is for "scatter"; and 4 is for other.

 The result of this operation is a map, but a cartographically unacceptable map because it doesn't contain all the map elements needed to communicate its message effectively and because these elements have not been effectively arranged on the map--all issues of cartographic content and composition. Fortunately, ArcView provides you with the tools you need to produce an effective map, and these will be discussed in the subsequent steps of this exercise as well as in class.

 The best way to learn about the other thematic mapping methods is to play with them and experiment with different ranges, values, symbols, and colors. Remember that you can use the mouse to explore the options presented by the various menus (look especially for fill style, and color). Feel free to do this, you can't hurt anything: Detailed explanations of thematic types and ranging methods are found in the ArcView manual.

16. Mapping Sites By Age

Now we would like to map the sites by their age. This data has been coded into the variable named AGE. The codes for AGE are: 0 is unknown; 1 is pre-Greek; 2 is 600-575 BC; 3 is 575-550 BC; 4 is 550-525 BC; 5 is 525-500 BC; 6 is 500-475 BC; 7 is 475-450 BC; 8 is 450-425 BC; 9 is 425-400 BC; 10 is 400-375 BC; 11 is 375-350 BC; 12 is 350-325 BC; 13 is 325-300 BC; 14 is 300-275 BC; and 15 is post-Greek.

 Make sure LAGO is highlighted in the Table of Contents. Create a legend with a graduated symbol using AGE as the variable to be mapped. Pick Unique Values as the Method. Move to the Value column for Range 1 and click the mouse. Move down through the column and type in the numbers 1 to 15 for the respective 15 ranges. These values (1-15) correspond to the 15 age classes into which the various sites are subdivided. Each subdivision corresponds to an approximately 50-year period. This level of chronological accuracy is pretty spectacular for archaeological research, but since many aren't confident that ceramic types can be dated quite so accurately, we are lumping the datings into these larger classes.

 ArcView is dividing the data according to these ranges. Study the distribution of settlement age.

 Now that you have looked at the overall distribution of sites by age, let's make a map that divides the sites into five age groups: pre- Greek; 600-475 BC sites; 475-375 BC sites; 375-275 BC sites; and post- Greek sites. To do this move up and change the Classifiction Method to Equal Interval with five as the number of ranges. In the spreadsheet below, there are now columns for minimum and maximum values. For the five Ranges, fill in the following values: 1 1; 2 6; 7 10; 11 14; 15 15. Calculate.

 For pre-Greek settlements (Range=1) choose a black filled circle of size 6. For post-Greek settlements (Range=5) choose a blue open box of size 6. For the Greek settlements of the three time periods, choose a green open + (plus) of size 8 for the earliest period (Range=2), a red open circle of size 8 for intermediate period (Range=3), and a red filled circle of size 10 for the most recent period (Range=4). Click on Apply when you are finished.

In the right side of the LEGEND EDIT window, edit the descriptions for each range:

17. Create an acceptable layout for your map (title, north arrow, legent).

Save your work with the command File | Save As. Make sure you are in the A:drive, then type in the file name LAGOMAP1. This creates a Project file. The Project file keeps a record of all ArcView settings in effect when you create the Project file (but it does not contain your actual boundary and data files--only a record of the ones you used and where they are located on the disk). The Project file serves as a sort of folder containing a record of where you left off in your work and allows you to return to this place when you begin your next session. Warning: Once you create a Project file, it can only be used again if the files you were using at the time of its creation (in this case the LAGO files) are in exactly the same disk location (in this case the floppy in the A:drive). Click on OK.

 Study this map carefully keeping in mind the larger archaeological questions about the ways the Greeks colonized this landscape. Where, for instance, did the Greeks colonize first? If you cannot see patterns, experiment with changing symbols, sizes, and colors to make it clearer.

18. Printing a Map

When everything is satisfactory, you can print your map. The printers are Hewlett-Packard Deskjet printers, which use 8 1/2" x 11" paper.

19. Creating Additional Attribute Data Fields

Let's say you would like to create a new variable so that you can recode some of the information in the Attribute table. In this case, you would like to create a variable called PHASE that will recode the fifteen AGE codes to five PHASE codes for further analysis.

Choose Table | Start Editing. You will know the table is available for editing when the Column Headings change from Italic to Roman fonts. Now choose Edit | Add Field. The Field Definition box pops up. Now, to define a column for PHASE, fill in the fields as follows:

The above settings create a new column in the Attribute table named PHASE, which will contain a single one-digit number. No decimal points will be included. The width specifies the number of columns ArcView will use to display the variable in the table.

Click on OK when finished with this form. Your new field appears as a column without any data below it.

20. Recoding Data by Expression

After creating a column in the spreadsheet for a new variable, you will wish to fill it with new values, by row, for each site. In this case, ArcView can do most of the dirty work for you by querying and using the calculate tool. Go to Table | Query. A Calculate Column dialog box appears. Fill this in as follows: Make a new set selecting all the records where AGE = 1. Click New Set when you are finished. All the records with an age of 1 are selected. Now make sure phase is the highlighted column in the table and click on the Calculate button (or Field | Calculate). Phase = appears just above the empty dialogue box. Type in 1 and click on OK. All the records you selected with your age=1 query now have a value of 1 in the Phase column.

You have recoded only one value of AGE. Now you must repeat the previous step four more times, each time with a different query statement. Again, go to Table | Query. This time, fill this in as follows:

( [Age] > 1) and ([Age] < 7 )

This expression can be read as follows: "if the value of AGE is greater than 1 and less than 7 (i.e. 2-6) then select it. Now use the calculate button, assigning a value of 2 for the phase.

Now, repeat this step for each of the following expressions to complete the remainder of the recoding: 6-11 (phase=3), 10-15 (phase=4), 15 (phase=5).

21. Creating a Thematic Map of PHASE

Now you will create a thematic map of PHASE using the steps outlined in the previous Metaponto exercise. Indeed, this new map should be identical to the one you plotted for the last exercise. Choose PHASE as the variable expression. Pick symbol styles so that pre-Greek and post-Greek settlements use the same color by different symbols, and so the three phases of Greek settlement use the same symbol, but in three different colors.

22. Examining Tombs by PHASE

Now that we have recoded AGE into the PHASE variable, let's consider the number and distribution of tombs by this new variable. Let's go about this analysis in three steps, one for each phase of Greek settlement. We'll ignore pre- Greek and post-Greek periods.

First, make sure LAGO.DBF is your active theme. Then you will want to Query. In the dialog box that appears, specify: PHASE = 2 AND TYPE = 2. This condition will search for tombs (TYPE=2) in the first period of Greek settlement (PHASE=2). Click on New Set, to see the highlighted results.

Once you have examined this map, click the clear selected features button to clear your selections. (You don't want these selections to interfere with your subsequent searches.)

Second, Query and use PHASE = 3 AND TYPE = 2. Examine the results.

Once you have examined this map, deselect the features.

Third, Query and select PHASE = 4 AND TYPE = 2. Examine the results.

Is there a trend in the number of tombs by settlement phase? After you have considered this issue, deselect the features.

23. PHASE and ELEV (Elevation): Another Bivariate Relationship

Now consider the relationship between PHASE and site elevation (ELEV) in the same way. We are interested with whether the farms moved up-slope or downslope during the three phases of Greek settlement.. In ArcView the easiest way to map a bivariate relationship is to first isolate part of the dataset using the THEME-PROPERTIES window. Inside that dialogue box For the Ranging Method of the ELEV variable, use Graduated Color and 2 Number of Ranges. Set 0 and 88 as the Min and Max values for Range 1. Set 89 and 122 as the Min and Max values for Range 2. These values are taken from the Statistics subpanel. The Maximum Elevation of a site in the Allsites layer is 122 and the Average Elevation is 87.69, which we are using as a breakpoint between the two ranges.

Remember, you'll have to edit the map elements to produce an acceptable map. Remember the steps you used in Exercise 1 to move, resize, and edit map elements.

Create a Project file here so that you can return to this step later for further work and for plotting the map.

24. Creating New Layers by PHASE

Now let's create separate map layers for sites of each PHASE. That is, let's divide the sites recorded in the LAgo layer by PHASE and then copy them into three separate layers for further independent analysis. In this procedure, a separate database table will also be created and attached their respective layers for following steps in this exercise.

First, Query . Select PHASE as the Column and 2 as the Value. When you are finished, highlighted on the map are all the sites of PHASE=2. Now Theme | Convert to Shapefile. In the dialogue box, point the computer to the directory where you are keeping the metaponto files (otherwise you'll lose track of the file) and name the new layer PHASE2. When asked if you want to add the theme, say yes. You'll have to check the new theme on to make it visible.

Second, repeat the procedure for PHASE 3 sites.

Third, repeat the procedure for PHASE 4 sites.

You have now created three new themes in your project, each with their own separate database tables. You can't see them well since they overlay the LAGO.DBF features. Turn "Off' Lago and turn "On" each of the new layers one at the time if you haven't already done so.

25. Proximity to Streams by PHASE

Now that we have separated the sites by PHASE, we wish to consider their proximity to streams in the three periods of Greek settlement. That is, through time, were the sites established closer or further away from the streams? There may or may not be any significant relationship between streams and settlement locations at the time when these settlements were occupied. The tools used in this part of the exercise, however, could be used to examine all sorts of proximity relationships, such as the numbers of sites within some distance of sites presumed to be economically, politically, or religiously important. Again, we will move through this analysis in three identical steps, one step for each phase.

First, let's consider this proximity relationship for PHASE=2. Turn off Lago, PHASE3, and PHASE4. Make sure PHASE2 is visible and that it is the active theme. Then go to Theme | Select by Theme. You will be selecting features in the PHASE2 layer that are within 100 meters of streams. You want to select features of the active theme (that would be PHASE2) that are within distance of the selected features of Streams. IF METERS IS NOT GIVEN AS THE UNIT OF MEASUREMENT IN THE DIALOGUE BOX YOU MUST CHANGE THE MAP UNITS AND DISTANCE UNITS IN THE VIEW | PROPERTIES DIALOGUE BOX.

Second, consider proximity in relationship to PHASE=3.

Finally, consider proximity in relationship to PHASE=4.

For each of these queries, it may be helpful to examine the table statistics to determine what portion of the sites in each phase lie within 100 meters of a stream.

26. Using Buffers to Measure Proximity to Division Lines

The division lines in your file may be the remains of a very early land survey system that may have been used by the settlers to align roads and plat farms. It would be interesting to investigate the association of division lines with the archeological finds by PHASE. This time we will use Select by Theme to assess the relationship between site location and division lines. We want to use these zones to pick out sites that are close to division lines in each of the PHASE layers.

To accomplish this task for PHASE2, make sure it is the active theme and then go to THEME | SELECT BY THEME. This allows you to select features that lie within a prescribed distance of other features, in this case sites falling within a division line buffer zones. The settings in the dialog box should be set as follows:

Select features of active themes that are within distance of the selected features of division.shp. Selection distance = 50 m.

Click on New Set. How many sites were selected?

Now look at the theme table and click EDIT | SWITCH SELECTION. Just below the toolbar is a box telling you what number of the records are selected.What is the proportion of PHASE2 sites falling inside the stream buffer zone?.

Do the same thing for PHASE3 and PHASE4.

Does there appear to be a clear relationships between division lines and sites in any of the three periods of Greek settlement?

27. Tombs and Division Lines

Perhaps it would be better to refine the previous analysis. Considering the relationship of division lines to all archeological remains in the study area may be too coarse a method of analysis. Any possible relationship between, say, farms and division lines or tombs and division lines might be lost by including all TYPES of site in analysis.

Refine your analysis to consider the relationship between division lines and farms and division lines and tombs in the Lago, PHASE2, PHASE3, and PHASE4 layers. Use the techniques previously introduced to develop your own analytical strategy.

28. Clean-up

Before you leave ArcView, always make sure you have created project views as needed so you can return to the different parts of your work.  Also, make sure ALL the files you created and used for the project are saved on your floppy disk. The PROJECT file is NOT the only file you need to make this assignment work. All the SHAPE, DATABASE, and PROJECT files must be on the diskette together.

29. What to Hand In (This is the GROUP part of the assignment)

For this exercise, please hand in:
  1. One 3.5" diskette containing ALL the LAGO files, plus:
  2. A Project file containing a map of allsites by TYPE,
  3. A plotted map of allsites by AGE.
  4. A complete, plotted map of the relationship between PHASE and TYPE.
  5. A complete, plotted map of the relationship between ELEVATION and PHASE.
  6. A brief written analysis (which may include maps) of the relationships of PHASEand TYPE, ELEV and PHASE, and of the relationship of division lines to farms and tombs.

Last Revised 2.1.2000. LNC.