The Currency of Cost

FACULTY OF ARTSDepartment of Archaeology The Currency of Cost Terry Beaulieu, PhD Candidate17 May 2014 GIS Cost Surface Analysisand Environmental Bias

Least Cost Path Overview: Raster Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Least Cost Path: Archaeological Applications • Most applications tend to employ only environmental measures • Slope, elevation, vegetation etc. • Leads to accusations of excessive environmental determinism • Most likely caused by the often unrecognized inherent bias intrinsic to GIS analyses Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Least Cost Path Bias: Economic Efficiency • Least Cost Path Analysis is a measure of economic efficiency • Fits well with free market economics and neoliberal theory • An often unrecognized source of potential bias in Archaeological Least Cost Path Analysis • We are bombarded daily with messages extolling the virtues of maximizing efficiency Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Least Cost Path Bias: Economic Efficiency Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Least Cost Path Bias: Economic Efficiency • The two most common currencies employed by archaeologists conducting Leas Cost Path analysis • Time • e.g. Tobler’s Hiking Function • Energy • e.g. Pandorf et al’s and Santee et al’s Metabolic rate formulas Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Least Cost Path Bias: Terminology • ‘Cost’ and ‘friction’ are negative terms • Evoke ideas that restrict and constrain travel and present barriers to movement • Tends to result in the privileging of environmental variables over more cultural measures • More to movement than simply avoiding physical obstacles Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Least Cost Path Bias: Terminology • Replace ‘Cost Raster’ and ‘Friction Surface’ with ‘Favourability Raster’ or ‘Desirability Surface’ • Move beyond limiting factors and consider variables that promote or enhance movement • e.g. a ‘good’ view Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Study Area Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Modern Example: Rosemary to Gem Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Prehistoric Example: Trail Junction to Hunting Hill Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Conclusion • Least Cost Path is a measure of economic efficiency • Currencies used by archaeologists tend to privilege environmental variables over cultural ones • Raster terminology leads to focus on physical barriers • Result is currencies that privilege environmental measures • Appearance of excessive environmental determinism is caused by these unacknowledged GIS biases • Recognition of GIS biases will allow archaeologists to mitigate the negative affects of those biases • Address the charge of environmental determinism • Create richer, more satisfying archaeological models Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

Thank You Canadian Archaeological Association: Currency of Cost

The Currency of Cost