UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Dead men's eyes: embodied GIS, mixed reality and landscape archaeology

Eve, SJ; (2014) Dead men's eyes: embodied GIS, mixed reality and landscape archaeology. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

[thumbnail of Eve_Stuart_thesis.pdf. COMPLETE.pdf]
Preview
Text
Eve_Stuart_thesis.pdf. COMPLETE.pdf

Download (198MB) | Preview

Abstract

Archaeology has been at the forefront of attempts to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to address the challenges of exploring and recreating perception and social behaviour within a computer environment. However, these approaches have traditionally been based on the visual aspect of perception, and analysis has usually been confined to the computer laboratory. In contrast, phenomenological analyses of archaeological landscapes are normally carried out within the landscape itself, computer analysis away from the landscape in question is often seen as anathema to such approaches. This thesis attempts to bridge this gap by using a Mixed Reality (MR) approach. MR provides an opportunity to merge the real world with virtual elements of relevance to the past, including 3D models, soundscapes and immersive data. In this way, the results of sophisticated desk-based GIS analyses can be experienced directly within the field and combined with phenomenological analysis to create an embodied GIS. The thesis explores the potential of this methodology by applying it in the Bronze Age landscape of Leskernick Hill, Bodmin Moor, UK. Since Leskernick Hill has (famously) already been the subject of intensive phenomenological investigation, it is possible to compare the insights gained from 'traditional' landscape phenomenology with those obtained from the use of Mixed Reality, and effectively combine quantitative GIS analysis and phenomenological fieldwork into one embodied experience. This mixing of approaches leads to the production of a new innovative method which not only provides new interpretations of the settlement on Leskernick Hill but also suggests avenues for the future of archaeological landscape research more generally.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Dead men's eyes: embodied GIS, mixed reality and landscape archaeology
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Keywords: GIS, Embodied GIS, phenomenology, landscape archaeology, Mixed Reality, Augmented Reality, Bronze Age, Cornwall
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology > Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1419267
Downloads since deposit
478Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item