The search for archaeological materials dating to 15,000 yr BP along the southern Oregon
coast is a formidable task. Using ethnographic, theoretical, and archaeological data, landscape
resources which would have influenced land-use and occupation location decisions in the past are
highlighted. Additionally, environmental data pertaining to the late Pleistocene is examined to
determine what landscape features may have been used by human groups 15,000 years ago and to
determine how these landscape features may have changed since that time. These landscape
resource features are included in the modeling project as independent variables. The dependent
variable in this modeling project is relative probability that an area will contain archaeological
materials dating to the time period of interest.
Two predictive locational models are created to facilitate the search process. These
models mathematically combine the independent variables using two separate approaches. The
hierarchical decision rule model approach assumes that decision makers in the past would have
viewed landscape features sequentially rather than simultaneously. The additive, or weighted-value,
approach assumes that a number of conditional preference aspects were evaluated
simultaneously and that different environmental variables had varying amounts of influence on
the locational choices of prehistoric peoples.
Integration of the data and mathematical model structures into a Geographic Information
System (GIS) allows for spatial analysis of the landscape and the prediction of locations most
likely to contain evidence of human activity dating to 15,000 years ago. The process involved
with variable integration into the GIS is delineated and results of the modeling procedures are
presented in spatial, map-based formats. / Graduation date: 2002
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28949 |
| Date | 29 May 2001 |
| Creators | Punke, Michele Leigh |
| Contributors | Bonnichsen, Robson |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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