Subject and Course Guides: ANTH 4398 Summer Field School in Anthropology (GIS Resources): Learning GIS

There are a number of GIS tools available on the market. As a UTA student, you have access to ArcGIS Online through your web browser or ArcGIS Desktop 10.8.2 on the computers in the Day Family Research Lab located on the fifth floor of the Central Library. There is also an open source product called QGIS which is free for anyone to use.

ArcGIS Pro is the newest installed software offered by Esri, but it is not available to UTA students for free at this time. Student licenses are available if you would like an installed version on your own device, but you must cover the cost.

CLICK HERE for a brief description of the difference between ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online and how they interact

ArcGIS Online for UTA
Log in using your UTA credentials. Navigate to different tools and features using the bar at the top.
QGIS
Official site to download QGIS. This is a free open source GIS option.

Tutorials and Background Information

ArcGIS Desktop Tutorials from Esri
Esri is the company that publishes all ArcGIS tools (ArcGIS is a brand name). "Desktop" is the version of installed software available in the Day Family Research Lab.
ArcGIS Pro Tutorials from Esri
This is the newest version of the installed software, but it is not available to UTA students at this time. Esri offers student licenses if you would like an installed version on your own device, but you must cover the cost.
ArcGIS Online Tutorials
ArcGIS Online tutorials from Esri. You have access to ArcGIS Online for free using your UTA credentials. See link above.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers courses on ArcGIS Pro and QGIS as well as foundational courses on GIS concepts. Use your UTA credentials to access these resources.
QGIS Tutorials
Resources from QGIS, a free open source GIS tool.
QGIS 4 Archaeology
A YouTube video series developed by Edward González-Tennant, an archaeologist and educator currently teaching at UT Rio Grande Valley. He developed this series for online learning while teaching for the University of Florida in 2020.
BAJR QGIS Guide
QGIS guide from the British Archaeological Jobs Resource. An archaeology specific guide to getting started with GIS including starting a project and working with vector and raster data. Links to open practice data are included.

GIS by Patrick McHaffie; Sungsoon Hwang; Cassie Follett
ISBN: 1032308974
Publication Date: 2023-03-01
This eBook is available in the UTA Libraries catalog. The second edition of this introductory GIS textbook is thoroughly rewritten and updated to respond to the demand for critical engagement with technologies that address relevant issues across several disciplines preparing students for higher-level work in geotechnologies. Includes many real-world examples with urban planning, environmental, and social justice foci. Presents new discussions, examples, and lab materials on open-source GIS projects.

Examples of Interactive GIS Maps

GIS can be used in a variety of formats including

Dashboards- Maps that can display data in a variety of ways depending on need. Think of your typical crime map or a map that shows different kinds of state, county, or city boundaries that you can toggle on and off.
Story Maps- Maps that are embedded in websites that tell a story about history or society. These are usually public facing and designed to be highly engaging. You could display the results of a academic research project using a Story Map.
Apps- If you or a user needs GIS to perform certain narrowly defined tasks, an app might meet those needs.

Arlington Story Maps
Highly engaging Story Maps that offer a series of true to life glimpses into Arlington’s Historic Landmarks using interactive GIS tools.
To Carve
To Carve takes a look at the monuments and markers at Oakwood Cemetery in the city of Austin, TX. Attention is given to the shapes, symbols and carved details found in the different types of stone within the cemetery grounds.
Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office
An online viewer for Connecticut’s cultural resources inventory. Simple and functional. Clear directions for use are provided on the right. See if you can figure out how to add a map from 1625 as a layer.

GIS in Archaeology and Anthropology

A couple of recent examples of how GIS might be used or talked about in academic contexts in archaeology and anthropology.

Participatory Mapping and Participatory GIS for Historical and Archaeological Landscape Studies: a Critical Review
This article presents participatory mapping (PM) and Participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) approaches as an appropriate and still developing kind of community-based spatial study in archaeology. For local communities, this approach helps them to be incorporated as active subjects in the registration and interpretation of their cultural heritage, as well as in the defense and management of it. At the same time, archaeological studies are enriched by incorporating contemporary perspectives and local people’s knowledge into interpretations of past landscapes.
Seen but Not Told: Re-mapping Great Zimbabwe Using Archival Data, Satellite Imagery and Geographical Information Systems
The world renowned site of Great Zimbabwe is one of the most globally significant archaeological sites in Africa. Ironically, this importance is not matched by the little amount of information that is known about such an iconic site. The heritage of this regrettable situation was birthed by the destructive activities of late nineteenth and early twentieth century antiquarians who vandalised tons of evidence without record. nal excavations began. Motivated by the need to understand the site in new ways, research was initiated to revisit the site's patchy and scattered archives and to supplement them with field surveys. This paper discusses the re-mapping of the site which, for the first time, comprehensively produced themed layers of spatial, chronological and material culture distribution.