Διερεύνηση του οικιστικού πλέγματος της νήσου Ικαρίας κατά την αρχαιότητα (με τη χρήση γεωγραφικών συστημάτων πληροφοριών)

Abstract

Although there is significant evidence of habitation on Icaria since the prehistoric period, no systematic research on the settlement pattern of the island has ever been contacted. Since the archaeological evidence does not clarify the reconstruction of ancient Icaria’s settlement pattern during Antiquity, it has been decided to use Geographic Information Systems as a tool for this rather challenging case study. The aim of this research is to combine data from the GIS and Remote Sensing analyses with archaeological and social facts, in order to create a predictive model for unknown settlement sites. The model is tested in the southwestern part of the island through a surface survey, which up to this date seems completely uninhabited. The specific Geographical Information System contains data in both vector and raster format. All data have been transformed in the same geodetic reference system, the Hellenic Geodetic Reference System 1987 (EGSA ’87), which is used by the National Cadastre of Greece. The Digital Elevation Model has derived from the digitization of 36 Greek Army Service topographical maps (scale 1:5000). Besides that, the sea-bed has been produced by digitizing isobaths and depth points from the natural resources map. Both of them have been used to visualize the image of the island. Additionally, by overlaying digitized plans of the excavated sites in 3D format, information about the landscape is gathered. The digital land use, natural resources and geological maps have been produced by digitizing the 1:50000 analog maps. The statistics, regarding the land use, vegetation and geology that apply to each settlement site, came up by the superimposition of the sub-cm GPS coordinates of the known archaeological sites. A multispectral and a panchromatic Landsat 7 image have been georeferenced into the Hellenic Georeference System 1987. So far true, false- and pseudo-color composites have been created, while supervised classification might indicate evidence of unknown archaeological sites. Slope, Aspect and Viewshed analyses have been conducted using the DEM and GPS coordinates of the sites. The fact that a large area in the western part of the island is not visible from any known site seems rather interesting, indicating that more unknown sites are yet to be found there. All data from the Geographical Information System are combined in a predictive model tested by a surface survey in the Southwestern part of Icaria island. The final product of this research, a digital operating system which will combine the database and the GIS and could easily be installed in user-friendly interface on the internet, can be used by the local authorities (municipalities and prefecture) and the Archaeological Service as a tool to protect and promote the Cultural Heritage of the island.