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Visual Perception in Past Built Environments: Theoretical and Procedural Issues in the Archaeological Application of Three-Dimensional Visibility Analysis

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Digital Geoarchaeology

Part of the book series: Natural Science in Archaeology ((ARCHAEOLOGY))

Abstract

In recent years, the increasing number of works dealing with the application of computational two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) visibility analyses to archaeological architectural spaces has demonstrated the potential of these methods to form powerful tools for exploring socio-symbolic aspects in past built environments. Although 2D methods have been adopted by archaeologists since the early 2000s, applications of visual analysis of 3D urban form are a relatively new development, and until recently they had mainly been dependent on ad hoc programming. Nonetheless, new possibilities offered by commercial GIS and procedural 3D modelling software permit nowadays the analysis of 3D visual structures using built-in tools, a development that could potentially encourage and facilitate fresh approaches to the interpretation of past urban environments. A discussion on the broader theoretical concepts and methodological concerns associated with the study of visual perception in archaeological built spaces appears, therefore, particularly timely. This chapter presents briefly the state of the art in 3D visibility analysis methods and discusses some theoretical and procedural issues linked with their application to archaeological contexts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Axial analysis aims to identify most ‘accessible’ and therefore most widely used street segments within an urban network by connecting the longest and fewest lines of sight that traverse each outdoor space in a continuous urban plan (Hillier and Hanson 1984, 82–142).

  2. 2.

    An isovist is the area visible from a given point in built space (Benedikt 1979). The 2D isovist corresponds usually to the two-dimensional horizontal slice of space at the eye level of the viewer.

  3. 3.

    A visibility graph is a set of edge connections that connect locations in space that are mutually visible (Turner et al. 2001).

  4. 4.

    For a more detailed review, see Paliou (2013).

  5. 5.

    Equivalent to visible area maps (Fig. 5.2d)

  6. 6.

    When the map is displayed using a stretched black and white colour ramp

  7. 7.

    In the current ArcGIS version (ArcGIS 10) the ArcScene Construct Sight Lines tool

  8. 8.

    For example, according to Higuchi the forground distance is approximately 60 times the size of the dominant tree species.

  9. 9.

    The Add Geometry Attributes tool of ArcGIS Spatial Analyst could be of use in this case.

  10. 10.

    This review did not cover all the measures that are used to describe the visual properties of open urban areas. For example, skyline, openness and enclosure in built environments (Fisher-Gewirtzman and Wagner 2003; Lin et al. 2015) were not mentioned here as these measures have yet to be discussed within the context of archaeological and historical disciplines; nonetheless, the possibility that such concepts may prove useful heuristics for archaeological analysis in the future cannot be precluded.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the editors, Christoph Siart, Markus Forbriger and Olaf Bubenzer, for inviting me to contribute to this volume. Most of the ideas discussed in this chapter were developed during my studies as a PhD student at the University of Southampton. For this reason, I owe special thanks to David Wheatley and Graeme Earl, who acted as my thesis supervisor and advisor, respectively, for their advice and comments on this research.

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  1. Archäoinformatik/Computational Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Eleftheria Paliou

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  1. Eleftheria Paliou
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Correspondence to Eleftheria Paliou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, Physical Geography, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Christoph Siart

  2. Institute of Geography, Physical Geography, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Markus Forbriger

  3. Institute of Geography, Physical Geography, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Olaf Bubenzer

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Paliou, E. (2018). Visual Perception in Past Built Environments: Theoretical and Procedural Issues in the Archaeological Application of Three-Dimensional Visibility Analysis. In: Siart, C., Forbriger, M., Bubenzer, O. (eds) Digital Geoarchaeology. Natural Science in Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25316-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25316-9_5

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