<s>
GIS	B-Application
or	O
Geographic	B-Application
Information	I-Application
Systems	I-Application
has	O
been	O
an	O
important	O
tool	O
in	O
archaeology	O
since	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Indeed	O
,	O
archaeologists	O
were	O
early	O
adopters	O
,	O
users	O
,	O
and	O
developers	O
of	O
GIS	B-Application
and	O
GIScience	O
,	O
Geographic	O
Information	O
Science	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
combination	O
of	O
GIS	B-Application
and	O
archaeology	O
has	O
been	O
considered	O
a	O
perfect	O
match	O
,	O
since	O
archaeology	O
often	O
involves	O
the	O
study	O
of	O
the	O
spatial	O
dimension	O
of	O
human	O
behavior	O
over	O
time	O
,	O
and	O
all	O
archaeology	O
carries	O
a	O
spatial	O
component	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GIS	B-Application
is	O
adept	O
at	O
processing	O
these	O
large	O
volumes	O
of	O
data	O
,	O
especially	O
that	O
which	O
is	O
geographically	O
referenced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tools	O
made	O
available	O
through	O
GIS	B-Application
help	O
in	O
data	O
collection	O
,	O
its	O
storage	O
and	O
retrieval	O
,	O
its	O
manipulation	O
for	O
customized	O
circumstances	O
and	O
,	O
finally	O
,	O
the	O
display	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
visually	O
comprehensible	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
important	O
aspect	O
of	O
GIS	B-Application
in	I-Application
archaeology	I-Application
lies	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
not	O
in	O
its	O
use	O
as	O
a	O
pure	O
map-making	O
tool	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
its	O
capability	O
to	O
merge	O
and	O
analyse	O
different	O
types	O
of	O
data	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
create	O
new	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	B-Application
of	I-Application
GIS	I-Application
in	I-Application
archaeology	I-Application
has	O
changed	O
not	O
only	O
the	O
way	O
archaeologists	O
acquire	O
and	O
visualise	O
data	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
the	O
way	O
in	O
which	O
archaeologists	O
think	O
about	O
space	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GIS	B-Application
has	O
therefore	O
become	O
more	O
of	O
a	O
science	O
than	O
an	O
objective	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Survey	O
and	O
documentation	O
are	O
important	O
to	O
preservation	O
and	O
archaeology	O
,	O
and	O
GIS	B-Application
makes	O
this	O
research	O
and	O
fieldwork	O
efficient	O
and	O
precise	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Research	O
done	O
using	O
GIS	B-Application
capabilities	O
is	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
decision	O
making	O
tool	O
to	O
prevent	O
loss	O
of	O
relevant	O
information	O
that	O
could	O
impact	O
archaeological	O
sites	O
and	O
studies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
archaeology	O
,	O
GIS	B-Application
increases	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
map	O
and	O
record	O
data	O
when	O
it	O
is	O
used	O
directly	O
at	O
the	O
excavation	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ability	O
of	O
GIS	B-Application
to	O
model	O
and	O
predict	O
likely	O
archaeological	O
sites	O
is	O
used	O
by	O
companies	O
that	O
are	O
involved	O
with	O
utilizing	O
vast	O
tracts	O
of	O
land	O
resources	O
like	O
the	O
Department	O
of	O
Transportation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
GIS	B-Application
to	O
assess	O
archaeological	O
sites	O
that	O
may	O
exist	O
or	O
be	O
of	O
importance	O
can	O
be	O
identified	O
through	O
predictive	B-General_Concept
modeling	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
GIS	B-Application
makes	O
this	O
process	O
less	O
time	O
consuming	O
and	O
more	O
precise	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
different	O
processes	O
and	O
GIS	B-Application
functionalities	O
that	O
are	O
used	O
in	O
archaeological	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Predictive	B-General_Concept
modeling	I-General_Concept
is	O
used	O
through	O
data	O
acquisition	O
like	O
that	O
of	O
hydrography	O
and	O
hypsography	O
to	O
develop	O
models	O
along	O
with	O
archaeological	O
data	O
for	O
better	O
analysis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Point	O
data	O
in	O
GIS	B-Application
is	O
used	O
to	O
focus	O
on	O
point	O
locations	O
and	O
to	O
analyze	O
trends	O
in	O
data	O
sets	O
or	O
to	O
interpolate	O
scattered	O
points	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aerial	O
data	O
is	O
analyzed	O
through	O
predictive	B-General_Concept
modeling	I-General_Concept
which	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
predict	O
location	O
of	O
sites	O
and	O
material	O
in	O
a	O
region	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GIS	B-Application
are	O
able	O
to	O
store	O
,	O
manipulate	O
and	O
combine	O
multiple	O
data	O
sets	O
,	O
making	O
complex	O
analyses	O
of	O
the	O
landscape	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
recent	O
years	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
become	O
clear	O
that	O
archaeologists	O
will	O
only	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
harvest	O
the	O
full	O
potential	O
of	O
GIS	B-Application
or	O
any	O
other	O
spatial	O
technology	O
if	O
they	O
become	O
aware	O
of	O
the	O
specific	O
pitfalls	O
and	O
potentials	O
inherent	O
in	O
the	O
archaeological	O
data	O
and	O
research	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
archaeological	O
research	O
applications	O
,	O
GIS	B-Application
is	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
help	O
manage	O
the	O
conservation	O
of	O
cultural	O
heritage	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GIS	B-Application
helps	O
conservation	O
organizations	O
monitor	O
the	O
impacts	O
of	O
development	O
,	O
conflict	O
,	O
and	O
climate	O
change	O
on	O
archaeological	O
and	O
other	O
cultural	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
public	O
agencies	O
use	O
GIS	B-Application
software	I-Application
to	O
assess	O
the	O
potential	O
impacts	O
of	O
construction	O
and	O
other	O
development	O
and	O
use	O
these	O
assessments	O
in	O
permitting	O
and	O
mitigation	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
