This book introduces readers to the very complex and stimulating area of archaeological mapping through a series of case studies in archaeological cartography. This edited volume includes five thematic sections, each one with chapters presenting both theoretical discussions and practical examples related to the different ways in which archaeologists engage with mapping. The introductory chapter by the book's editors, Mark Gillings, Piraye Hacıgüzeller, and Gary Lock, offers an insightful reflection on maps and mapping practice in archaeology.
Other chapters included in Part I discuss the meaning of maps, examining historically the first maps produced in Europe and analyzing the very purpose of making maps. In Chapter 2, Oscar Aldred and Gavin Lucas examine maps as assemblages, starting with reviews of phenomenological critiques of map usage and the reductionist representations in maps of the reality of the past to point out the dynamic nature of a map as a multilayered object that can be regarded both as a “device” and “representation” at the same time. In Chapter 3, Helen Wickstead explores map production and its social meaning in early twentieth-century Britain by examining work by three key figures, Herbert John Fleure, Harold Peake, and O.G.S. Crawford, who played important roles in defining different modalities and scopes of making archaeological maps. In Chapter 4, Silvia Tomášková outlines a feminist approach to archaeological mapping, emphasizing the influence of the cultural context and biographical backgrounds of mapmakers in determining the characteristics of maps as final products. Map production for archaeologists is a form of power control, and the very process of creating a map implies a series of choices that have impacts on maps’ interpretations and narratives and related archaeological data.
Part II introduces readers to different practices of mapping. In discussing earthwork surveys in Chapter 5, Michael Fradley outlines the importance of situated perspectives of archaeologists in the field; he notes that the increasing digitization and automatization of map production risk, in the long run, diminishing archaeologists’ skills of observation and documentation. In Chapter 6, Tessa Poller invites readers to overcome traditional views of maps as simplistic and straightforward data representations and to reflect instead on the hermeneutic processes that affect data collection in the field as resulting from archaeologists’ efforts to physically and sensorially engage with the surrounding environment.
Part III explores experimental approaches to archaeological cartography. Chapter 7, by Daniel Lee, challenges current views of maps as static products defined by Cartesian grid systems and introduces alternative ways of describing and representing archaeological information observed and collected in the field. In Chapter 8, Andrew Valdez-Tullett reflects on the scope of cartography and the way archaeologists can use maps to communicate their ideas and interpretations. What is currently missing is an understanding of the target audiences of a cartographic product; it is with a specific audience in mind that archaeologists or cultural heritage specialists can determine which symbols and codes are appropriate to make any archaeological map understandable. Chapter 9 is an experiment in descriptive visualization by Caleb Lightfoot and Christopher Witmore, focused on the ancient Greek city of Hermion/Ermioni. Erin Kavanagh introduces the theme of “deep maps” in Chapter 10, demonstrating a multivocal approach through which diverse specialists and specialties have their own agency in the production of maps, which are characterized here as dynamic spaces for discussions involving scholars and artists. In Chapter 11, Dianne Scullin describes acoustic mapping as an alternative way of representing the space and spaces of an archaeological site through a sensory approach; this approach seeks to overcome limitations in traditional maps that emphasize forms of data representation that privilege sight and visuality as elective modes of sensory perception.
Chapters in Part IV focus on digital transformations. In Chapter 12, Hacigüzeller discusses the case study of Çatalhöyük, where digital cartography has played important roles in site documentation, and the advantages of doing both digital and paper-based mapping in archaeological fieldwork. In Chapter 13, Christopher Green focuses on cartographic production, drawing on theory in quantum mechanics, in particular, the uncertainty principle—which is applicable to problems of scale representation in maps, where variables like time and space are typically described with varying degrees of accuracy and precision.
Part V includes a single chapter in which Monica L. Smith summarizes key points in the preceding chapters about archaeological maps and mapping and outlines the multifaceted nature of these artifacts, which can take different forms as analytic tools, representations, journey diaries, and even autobiographies.
This book provides readers with an insightful overview of archaeological cartography, and it reflects on unconventional and refreshing ways on issues of data representation. It will certainly appeal to archaeologists and professionals in cultural heritage and other disciplines for which spatial analyses are essential.
