Abstract

Urbanisation is a transformative process that can dramatically reshape land surfaces. Archaeologists working in urban environments are often required to relate the outcomes of this process to the archaeological record. This is particularly true for pre-European Aboriginal cultural heritage, where the enduring presence of pre-contact ground surfaces has important implications for cultural heritage management. Accurately predicting which parts of a city have increased or decreased in elevation historically could provide archaeologists with a new means of assessing archaeological potential. In this paper we present a methodology for modelling historical landscape change using nineteenth century topographic maps and GIS. To demonstrate the approach, changes in elevation between 1853 and 1895 were modelled across Melbourne’s central business district (the Hoddle Grid). The results of that modelling were then related to contemporary heritage inventories. When coupled with historical research, this form of landscape modelling could produce valuable insights about city formation, industrial era activity, and the ways city dwellers domesticate space in the Anthropocene.

摘要

城市化是一个变革性的过程，可以极大地重塑土地表面。通常需要在城市环境中工作的考古学家将这一过程的结果与考古记录联系起来。对于前欧洲原住民文化遗产而言尤其如此，因为接触前地面的持久存在对文化遗产管理具有重要意义。历史上准确预测城市的哪些部分海拔升高或降低可以为考古学家提供一种评估考古潜力的新方法。在本文中，我们介绍了一种使用19世纪地形图和GIS对历史景观变化进行建模的方法。为了演示该方法，1853年至1895年之间的海拔变化以整个墨尔本的中央商业区（霍德尔网格）为模型。然后，该建模的结果与当代遗产清单有关。结合历史研究，这种形式的景观建模可以产生有关城市形成，工业时代活动以及人类居住在人类世间的方式的宝贵见解。