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GIS-CARTOGRAPHY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND THEIR LOCATION IN THE LANDSCAPES OF RIVER VALLEY ORTOLYK IN THE HOLOCENE (SOUTH-EASTERN ALTAI)

Anastasia Glebova, I. Sergeev, Ksenia Shelest

Abstract

The mapping of the archaeological sites from different historical periods and the analysis of their location over the landscape give us the opportunity to obtain an overall picture of human settlement on the territory in times past. A region located in the valley of the river Ortolyk (South-Eastern Altai, Russia) was selected as an example. In order to analyse landscape location of the archaeological sites the archaeological and landscape maps were created by use of the program ArcGIS 10.1. The cartographic methods were used for mapping. These methods give us an opportunity to obtain quantitative characteristics of phenomena and processes and allow us to trace the relationship between nature and society in the historical past. The coordinates of 174 archaeological sites were identified through the field research using GPS-navigator. Large scale landscape map was created by the method of landscape mapping. Landscape map was created on the base of field research, digital elevation model (DEM), high-resolution satellite images, geomorphological map (scale 1:200,000), map of quaternary sediments (scale 1:200,000) and topographic map (scale 1:50000). 22 landscaped taxa were allocated on the landscape map. GIS-cartography shows that ancient people purposefully chose level surfaces or gentle slopes with open dry steppe landscapes (wormwood-low- bunchgrass steppe and low-bunchgrass steppe) for construction of archaeological sites. These landscapes were good grazing lands in the Scythian and Turkic periods. Now, the local population uses them for grazing of the livestock: cows, horses, sheep, and goats.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2017/23/s11.068

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