GIS, or geographic information systems, is a powerful tool for historical research. It allows you to visualize, analyze, and interpret spatial data and patterns from different sources and time periods. In this article, you will learn how to use GIS to map historical data and patterns, and what benefits and challenges it offers for historians.
GIS is a computer-based system that integrates data, software, hardware, and methods to capture, store, manipulate, display, and analyze spatial information. GIS can help you answer questions such as: Where did historical events or phenomena occur? How did they change over time and space? What spatial relationships or patterns exist among them? How did they affect or interact with the environment, society, culture, or politics? By using GIS, you can create maps, charts, graphs, and models that reveal historical insights and narratives that might otherwise be hidden or overlooked.
GIS stands for Geographic Information System. It is a key tool in mapping Archaeological, cultural and historically significant sites. I use GIS to map important culturally and historically significant sites. I will also use buffering systems to help protect sites from from being destroyed by development.
Before you can use GIS to map historical data and patterns, you need to find and prepare your data sources. Historical data can come from various types of sources, such as archives, libraries, museums, publications, databases, websites, or oral histories. You need to evaluate the quality, reliability, accuracy, and relevance of your data sources, and consider their limitations and biases. You also need to prepare your data for GIS by converting them into digital formats, georeferencing them to a common coordinate system, and organizing them into layers, attributes, and tables.
Preparing historical data for GIS is crucial in understanding land use and patterns in the landscape. One can use GIS to generate predictive models to determine the likelihood of sensitive historic, cultural, or archaeological sites.
Once you have your historical data ready for GIS, you can create and customize your maps according to your research questions and goals. You can use different types of maps, such as point, line, polygon, raster, or thematic maps, to represent different aspects of your historical data and patterns. You can also use various symbols, colors, scales, labels, legends, and layouts to enhance the clarity, readability, and aesthetics of your maps. You can also add annotations, images, or multimedia elements to enrich your maps with additional information or context.
Generating historical maps with user friendly legends are the key to presenting a good map. Some historical maps can show the thematic aspects of a city or a town. It can also indicate the social class variety in an area over time.
Creating maps is not enough for historical research. You also need to analyze and interpret your historical data and patterns with GIS. You can use various analytical tools and techniques, such as queries, buffers, overlays, spatial statistics, or network analysis, to explore, measure, compare, or test your historical data and patterns. You can also use GIS to generate hypotheses, identify trends, detect anomalies, or discover new perspectives or connections. You need to be critical and reflective of your analysis and interpretation, and acknowledge the uncertainties, assumptions, or limitations of your GIS results.
In the case of aerial photos overlaid with historical maps, one can see the changes in the landscape over time. It can tell a narrative about any location and how it has developed over time.
The final step of using GIS to map historical data and patterns is to communicate and share your results with your audience. You can use different formats and platforms, such as reports, presentations, publications, websites, blogs, or social media, to disseminate your historical GIS results. You need to consider the purpose, scope, and tone of your communication, and tailor your message and style to suit your audience. You also need to cite your sources, acknowledge your collaborators, and respect the ethical and legal issues of using historical data and GIS.
We share mappers with consulting parties in cultural resources consultations so that everyone can see what we're talking about. Layers include historic and prehistoric sites, transportation assets, property lines, environmental data like wetlands and flood plains, and other details that may arise in discussing the process of mitigating adverse effects to historic properties.
Most of the time the historical maps generated in my line of work are shared with construction companies, Registered Aboriginal Parties and the state government. Some of these are never published and are not available to the public.
GIS mapping of historical data and patterns can provide many advantages for historical research, such as visualizing data in new ways, analyzing it in spatial and temporal dimensions, interpreting it in relation to multiple factors and contexts, and communicating it clearly. However, using GIS for historical research also poses some challenges, such as the need for technical skills, resources and support, complex and time-consuming data preparation and management, the availability and quality of data sources, errors or biases in the data or analysis, and oversimplification or distortion of historical complexity or diversity. Therefore, careful planning, execution, evaluation, critical thinking, creativity and curiosity are all necessary when using GIS to map historical data and patterns.
The benefits can be finding out where significant historical sites have appeared in the landscape prior to modern developments. It can be challenging locating the exact location in older maps due to the quality and the changes which have occurred. It can also be difficult to locate historical maps to help with modern consulting analysis.
Historical maps should be available to everyone. Technology upgrades and data uploading needs to occur to make it more accessible for consultants and the general population.