GIS BASED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE LOCATION MODELING IN PITT COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Abstract

Archaeologists have employed Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software in the generation of predictive models for over thirty years. In the interest of creating a state wide predictive model, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) commissioned a pilot study in seven counties (Cabarrus, Chatham, Forsyth, Granville, Guilford, Randolph and Wake) of the Piedmont region. The primary goal of this thesis was to quantitatively examine the applicability of the Piedmont model to the Coastal Plain environment, specifically Pitt County. This thesis has demonstrated that the Piedmont predictive model does translate well to the Coastal Plain. Additionally, the predictive power of a model employing a generalized archaeological database (the Coastal Plain Model) was tested against a model employing a time period specific archaeological database (Coastal Archaic and Coastal Woodland models, respectively). The Coastal Archaic and Coastal Woodland models proved to have more predictive power than the Coastal Plain. A third research question analyzes the settlement decisions of archaic and woodland groups which are inferred from statistical data.