A Deluge of Data : An Exploration of Data Visualisation for Complex Environmental Archaeological Data from Dilling, Norway

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores the challenges and possibilities of data visualisation in regards complex and large archaeological data sets, using the site near Dilling, south-eastern Norway, as a casestudy. From this site, radiocarbon dated buildings, archaeobotanical data and geoarchaeological data were combined into an interactive chronological and spatial overview. This is currently hosted at http://yara.hallenga.nl. The overview starts at 1800 BCE and ends at 850 CE, which represents the timespan during which the settlement there existed with an extra 50 years before and after. This period is explored in steps of 50 years. The buildings are represented according to their function, and fade into and out of view depending on probability calculations generated by the radiocarbon dates in OxCal. The archaeobotanical data is shown in the shape of pie charts, with one for each of the housing areas that the site has been divided into. These change for each 50-year step as well. The geoarchaeological data consists of MS, MS550, MSQuota, CitP, CitPOI, PQuota and LOI, each of which is represented through an IDW interpolation based on the analysis of feature fills of postholes or posthole-imprints. The visualisation proved to provide a clear temporal overview of the development of the site, showing the increase and decrease of buildings and archaeobotanical data, allowing for comparisons between the two. It is also a useful and engaging way for non-expert to be introduced to environmental archaeological data.