SPATIAL AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL MODELLING OF CULTURAL CHANGE IN THE IPEĽ/IPOLY RIVERVALLEY REGION
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-11-17

Archaeological research in Slovakia and Hungary was until recently mostly conducted only within each of the state’s boundary. As a result, the dispersion of archaeological cultures generally corresponds with modern state borders. Lately, this situation has changed thanks to the ISzAP project conducted both theoretical research and non-destructive field work on both sides of river Ipeľ/ Ipoly, which marks the state boundary between Slovakia and Hungary. The project aims at examination of prehistoric interregional trade networks and cultural change in the region. Thanks to the joint research efforts an extensive database was gathered ranging from the Neolithic until the New Age. Computational spatial and spatio-temporal modelling is used as a key analytical element. The project is using a broader action research methodology, the model can improve progressively with ongoing extensive field surveys and re-evaluation of new data. In this paper we are focusing on the components dated to the Neolithic. During mapping of archaeological sites, it was clear that there is ca. 30 km gap between LBK/Želiezovce group and Bükk Culture. So we started a close examination of this finding. After the analysis of key environmental parameters in GIS predictive models for both cultural units were created using fuzzy logic. Methodology of the predictive model calculation will be further discussed in the paper. Results of predictive models show different tendencies of landscape occupation deriving from the environmental conditions. It was suggested that the observed situation could be a result of environmentally induced cultural boundary. In order to see how this boundary developed in the course of the Neolithic, we used spatio-temporal modelling. It was possible to observe shifting of sites probability distribution in particular time clusters. Combination of both modelling methods enabled us to visualize changes in settlement clusters over time and see possible boundaries among cultural units.


Author(s): Tóth, Peter (Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno) - Larsson, Nicklas (Hungarian National Museum, Budapest)