GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL TO STUDY HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION: CACTUS PARK, COLORADO STUDY CASE

Geographical Information Technology has been emerging as a tool for analyzing not only spatial relations of real world data, but also temporal relations. In the field of geoarchaeology, temporal information is available from the environment, and the reconstruction of past environments is central. Geoarchaeology is the localized study of modern and past available natural resources and how those resources are related to, and helped shape, human land-use, subsistence, and habitation patterns in the past. By studying the resources available in a particular area during a particular time period, it becomes possible to predict the nature of human occupation during that period. In archaeology, this enables researchers to predict past human activities on a given landscape, and what material evidence will be found that reflects those activities. This study utilized GIS technology to look at Cactus Park, an area local to the Grand Valley, with available resource data, and known cultural resources. The cultural resources in Cactus Park are well documented, and radiocarbon dates indicate the park has been in near-constant use for the last 7000 years. Previous archaeological work in the park and in the surrounding Gunnison and Colorado River valleys has reconstructed the regional climate patterns for the study area. The presence of existing archaeological and paleoenvironmental data makes Cactus Park a good case study in the methods of geoarchaeology, and in the use of GIS as a valuable tool. It is the purpose of this poster presentation to demonstrate the use of GIS technology in the field of Geoarchaeology and its utility.