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Table of Contents | Background
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Spatially Integrated Social Science: Chapter 16
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Geographical
Approaches for Reconstructing Past Human Behavior from Prehistoric
Roadways
John Kantner
Abstract
Roadways were the ties that bound ancient
societies together, for they facilitated economic interaction,
symbolized social and political ties, and reflected the worldviews
of the people who constructed them. Archaeologists therefore
have much to gain from the analysis of road systems created
by past societies. This study begins with a discussion of
geographical approaches used by archaeologists to examine
prehistoric roadways, with a special emphasis on the utility
of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in these analyses.
The 1000-year-old roads of the Chaco Anasazi of the southwestern
United States provide a case study illustrating how spatial
analytical techniques for studying road networks strengthen
our reconstructions of past regional behavior. Scholars debate
the function of these Chacoan roadways, with some archaeologists
claiming they facilitated exchange, others arguing that they
served local social and political roles, and still other researchers
contending that the roads were regional representations of
Chacoan cosmology. To evaluate these hypotheses, results of
a GIS-facilitated cost-path analysis are described. This analysis
demonstrates that Chaco Anasazi roadways did not facilitate
regional economic interactions, and that they instead reflected
a concern with cosmology as well as local sociopolitical landscapes.
The case study illustrates the importance of spatial analytical
approaches for addressing archaeological problems.
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